Blood on my Hands: The 18th Hunger Games
by La Morgana
Summary: *need sponsors* No...she couldn't be dying... Faintly she heard the sound of a pair of heavy footsteps running towards her and and a hurried "C'mon Sapling, we need to get out of here." Everything faded around her, she wasn't going home... *11 Tributes*
1. Chapter 1

Blood on my Hands: The 18th Hunger Games

Yes, I too have jumped on the SYOT bandwagon, and I'm including Sponsor points just because

Tribute form:

Name:

District (first and second choice):

Age:

Apperance:

Personality:

Friends:

Family:

Token:

Background:

Weapon of choice:

Other weapons?:

Strengths (no more than four):

Weaknesses (no less than 3):

Volunteered or Reaped:

Reaction if reaped:

Why did they volunteer:

Fears:

Interview outfit:

Reaping outfit:

Chariot outfit:

Interview angle:

Interview quote:

Training Score:

Romance?:

Ally?:

Skills:

Strategy for bloodbath:

Strategy for the rest of the games:

Why do they want to win?:

Idea for death (Sorry, can't have 24 victors)

Will they kill?:

Anything else?:

Arena Form

Terrain:

Weather:

Gamemakers traps?:

Cornucopia Location:

Points will be as follow:

Submit a Tribute: 20 points

Submit an Arena idea: 10 points

Leave a review: 5 points

The prices for items will be posted once the games start


	2. Tribute List

**TRIBUTE LIST!**

_AN: A couple of my RL friends gave me some ideas for Bloodbath tributes. That doesn't mean they'll be the only ones who will die, but they definitely will, so don't talk to me about sponsoring them... I labeled them very clearly_**. All Spots filled! Get ready for the games to begin in earnest!  
**

District 1: Luxury Goods *CLOSED*  
Girl: Kathleen Mason (17) Killed by Katlyn Marion. Has killed Alicia Wysteria  
Boy: **Nickolas Thorne** (18) Has killed Hyden Richards

District 2: Weapons *CLOSED*  
Girl: **Satin Cambridge** (17) Has killed Tobin Herder  
Boy: Corg Bruster (18) Killed by shrapnel from exploding plate

District 3: Electronics/Technology *CLOSED*  
Girl: **Ari Michellle Faraday** (16)  
Boy: Keenan Masonsen (14) Killed By Nightlock Jet

District 4: Fishing *CLOSED*  
Girl: **Serena "Nightlock" Jet** (14) Has killed Keenan Masonsen and Aspen Ruddowe  
Boy: **Hendrik Gilden** (15) Has killed Iris Larkspur

District 5: DNA Splicing/Breeding *CLOSED*  
Girl: Maeghan Summerdone (16) Killed by Bryce Flammon  
Boy: Julian Barium (18) Killed by Trite Lankon

District 6: Medicine *CLOSED*  
Girl: Iris Larkspur (16) Killed by Hendrik Gilden  
Boy: Lance Tungsten (14) Killed by Steller Frose

District 7: Lumber and paper products *CLOSED*  
Girl:** Katlyn Marion** (12) Has killed Kathleen Mason  
Boy: **Bryce Flammon** (15) Has killed Maeghan Summerdone

District 8: Textiles *CLOSED*  
Girl: Michelle "Missy" Allondite (17) Killed by Gamemaker Trap  
Boy:** Trite Lankon** (13) Has Killed Julian Barium

District 9: Food Processing *CLOSED*  
Girl: Alicia Wysteria (15) Killed by Kathleen Mason  
Boy: Hyden Richards (12) Killed by Nickolas Thorne

District 10: Livestock *CLOSED*  
Girl:** Katriel Seraven** (17)  
Boy: Tobin Herder (13)

District 11: Agriculture *CLOSED*  
Girl: Aspen Ruddowe (15) Killed by Nightlock Jet  
Boy:** John Atticus** (17)

District 12: Coal Mining *CLOSED*  
Girl: Tiffany Summers (12) Killed by mine  
Boy:** Cropen "Stelter" Frose** (17) Has killed Lance Tungsten


	3. Author's Note

Author's Note

Hey, guys, it's Morgana, and I have an announcement:  
If I can get District 1 filled up pretty quick (I only have the guy spot left, after all) I can start the reapings pretty quickly cuz I'm pretty eager to get started

Happy Hunger Games and may the odds be ever in your tribute's favor ;)

LM 


	4. District 1 Reapings!

**District 1: Kathleen Mason**

17 year old Kathleen awoke to the usual tension that always seemed to hang in the air on Reaping Day.

In district 1 it seemed to have a nervous, almost excited feel to it, like when a big sports event is coming up at school…. it almost could be, in all truthfulness; District 1 had already won 3 times, two men and a woman were living in Victor's Village, from the 3rd, 7th and 15th games. She glanced over at her little sister, Elle. She was just 14, her name was only entered three times, half the number of Kat's, half the chance she'd get picked. Kat pushed such thoughts aside, it's not like she was ever going to be a tribute, her name was only entered six times, and got up, stretching and padded to the kitchen to grab a bite to eat before the Reapings this morning. Her mother, Maroon, was already up, sipping coffee and watching the clock, she looked up when Kat walked in and smiled.

"Ready for today, Kat?"

Kat smiled and gave her mom a kiss on the cheek. "'Course, it's not like me or Elle are going to get picked. Even if we did, someone'll volunteer. I've heard talk about people wanting to volunteer just for the glory and money."

Maroon went very solemn, possibly remembering some of the previous Games. "Those children have no idea what they're getting into," Her mother's eyes met her own, icy blue meeting icy blue, "No idea."

An uncomfortable silence fell between them, only to be broken by her brother, Kane, sauntering into the kitchen, an easy grin plying on his face as he copied the Capital accent, "Morning! Happy Hunger Games!"

Kat laughed at him, he was always able to cheer her up, even on Reaping Day. She got up and hugged him, then went to go change; the Reaping was only an hour away. She gently shook awake Elle and then slipped into her outfit for the Reaping, wondering who would be the unlucky two tributes this year.

**District 1: Nickolas Thorne**

Nickolas and his best friend, Derrick, strode into the boys section of the 18 year olds only about 5 minutes before the Reaping was meant to start, laughing at the dirty looks some of the others shot them. Jealous, no doubt about it. He waited through the speech given by the mayor, watched as District 1's escort, Sylvia deMarina an energetic young woman with sparkles embedded in her face and spiky white hair, bounced up to the podium and rambled on about how honored she was to be here again… Yeah, right, honored to be taking another pair of kids to die? Ha!

"Well, shall we get started?" she piped in her high voice and hopped over to the glass balls that held the names of every kid between the ages of 12 and 18, including his own. He briefly wondered what the odds were that he would get picked and how awesome that would be as the stupid woman stuck her whole arm into the wad of girls' names, pulling one out from the very center and smoothing it out.

"Kathleen Mason!"

Nickolas watched as a short girl walked, the look of shock clear on her face, out of the 17 year old section. She looked cute, wearing a nice white skirt, a light pink blouse that made her long brown hair seem all the darker, stunning blue eyes, slim, not a bad piece of eye candy. Yeah, if this was the girl District 1 was sending in, they definitely weren't going to have a girl victor this year, that was for sure.

Sylvia asked for volunteers, but to everyone's surprise, no one stepped forward. Weird, usually there was at least one person who wanted the glory for themselves… He was snapped out of his thoughts by her high-pitched voice ringing out again: "Nickolas Thorne!"

Him? Finally! He strode to the stage, smug that finally he got picked. He'd been watching the games his whole life and has always imagined himself in the Victor's seat, he would have volunteered himself if he hadn't been picked this year anyway.

Sylvie smiled brightly at him, "You're Nickolas Thorne?"

"Yep, that's my name, don't wear it out."

Again, Sylvia called for volunteers, but again, no one stepped forward. Good thing too, he didn't want them to, this was _his _moment; nobody was going to take it from him.

"Well then, let's have a nice big round of applause for our newest District 1 tributes: Kathleen Mason and Nickolas Thorne!" squeaked Sylvia happily as the crowd either cheered or looked shocked. Nickolas could see a trio of girls crying together, probably Kathleen's friends and one guy from the 17's looking green. Weird. I looked at Derrick and grinned, he grinned back, flashing me a thumbs up.

**Kathleen Mason**

She was still stunned when the Peacekeepers escorted her and the boy to the Justice Building: the odds had been completely in her favor, she couldn't have gotten Reaped, she just couldn't have….. But on the other hand she was enthralled by the prospect of winning, she could be one of the ones living in Victor's Village, she could win fame, more than fame, infamy! She could….. be killed brutally by the confident looking guy walking next to her. The Peacekeepers shoved her into a poshly furnished room and left her alone for a few minutes until her family walked in and hugged her.

Her father held her close and whispered "We know you'll do your best to return home, just don't give up and you'll be fine."

She nodded, and the family continued to talk about what she had to do until the Peacekeepers led them out, almost having to drag Kane away, and let in her four closest friends; Silver, Melinda, Tessa and James. James held something out for her, it was a bracelet with a gem embedded in it that almost exactly matched her eyes. "You're allowed to have one thing with you in the arena from your home district, please take it, Kat" said Tessa, eyes red from crying.

Kat took it and secured the bangle around her wrist with help from Silver. "Guys, I just want you to kno-" She was cut off by raucous laughter emanating from the next room, no doubt Nickolas Whatever-His-Name-Is laughing with one of his friends. She cleared her throat "I want you to know that I'm not going to give up fighting, I'm going to try my hardest to win."

Again, the Peacekeepers came far too soon and led her friends away, leaving her totally alone until she and the guy were led to the train station. She glanced at him, smiling and waving like an idiot and firmly believed that she was going to need his enthusiasm to get sponsors for them both.

AN: Yes, I know I focused on Kathleen more than Nickolas, but there is a method to my madness, I promise, Read and Review, and for 10 extra points per question, I'm going to ask a random question at the end of each chapter, the first 3 people that PM me with the right answer will get the points.

This question's category is Precious Metals, to go with District 1 being Luxury Items ;-)

How many ounces are in a pound of gold?

Good luck and may the odds be ever in your favor,

LM


	5. FINALLY!

NOTE: Well, got the last of the tributes, the District 2 Reapings are going to be posted either tonight or tomorrow!  
Happy Hunger Games and may the odds be ever in your tribute's favor!

LM


	6. District 2 Reapings

Here you have it, folks, District 2!

;-)

LM

**District 2: Satin Cambridge**

Satin awoke, and was instantly alert with excitement; today was Reaping Day. Today was the day she would finally win her father's attention. Today, she was going to volunteer for the Hunger Games.  
She quickly got up and brushed her long dark blonde hair into a high ponytail and put on her Reaping outfit she and her mother had chosen just for this year: a short black dress that showed off her long tanned legs to good effect. The black of the dress had just a hint of green to match her eyes and prevent her from being washed out. She glanced in the mirror and was highly satisfied at how her eyes seemed to be highlighted by the dark colors; it made her look dangerous and sexy and the image of what a Career Tribute should be.

She gave herself a final onceover in the mirror to make sure everything was perfect (it was) and then headed to the kitchen to find her parents. They were already up, drinking coffee and watching the District 1 Reapings. Satin tried to catch her father's eye, but just as he had for almost all of her 16 years, he ignored her.

"Well, today's the day I'm volunteering, dad!"

He glanced at her, nodded once and looked back at the television. Her mother, Altisi, glanced between her and her father and said, "Well, we both know you'll do well, right Tristin?"

All her mother got for her trouble was a grunt.

Disappointed, but knowing he wouldn't be able to pretend she didn't exist after she was a Victor, she glanced at the television in time to see the girl Tribute get on the stage…. She was so short! Satin was at least six inches taller than the girl and yet, when the escort called for volunteers, there was nobody willing to step forth. Even stranger was when the same thing happened with the boy Tribute, but he looked like a Victor, strong and good looking, with a smug look on his face.

Altisi spoke as they watched the pair shake hands: "Well, if that's what your competition is going to be like, Satin, these games should be over in under a week."

* * *

**District 2: Corg Bruster**

Corg took his place in the 18 year old section, red eyes staring forward, ignoring how some of the others shifted uncomfortably and looked away. He completely ignored them; this was his moment, his Games. The others were nothing, mere spectators.

Corg glanced at the others; they all knew he was Volunteering, it was expected of him since his father had been the first Victor at the age of 18 and his mother had served during the Dark Days to quash the Rebels and now it was his duty to honor his mother's memory and win the games for her.

The Reaping Ceremony was as dull as ever, with the ridiculous escort, Darren Heffler hopping around on stage. He was thin and bony with his skin dyed emerald green, honestly reminding Corg of a grasshopper in looks and bearing. He was introduced by Mayor Corrosilight and then prattled on about how happy he was to be the Escort for our district and how exciting it was to be here and blah, blah, blah.

'Get on with it already' he thought, he just wanted the Reaping itself to begin so the Games could start quickly.

Darren hopped over to the glass bowls with the entries in them saying enthusiastically "Ladies first!" It was standard for the Ceremony; always first the girls were Reaped, then the guys, every year for his whole life, and it would continue to be that until the Capital crumbled. And good riddance it would be, too. Darren put his thin arm in the girls' bowl, and drew out one of the pieces of paper and cleared his throat. "Sy-"

"I VOLUNTEER!" Came a voice from around the middle of the 16's section as a girl with dirty blonde hair pushed her way to the makeshift stage.

Darren grinned in delight. "And what's your name, my dear?"

The girl looked around the square with an air of superiority. "Satin Cambridge."

"Wonderful," beamed Darren, "Now for the gentlemen!"

As he moved to the boys' bowl, Corg got ready. This was his moment and he wasn't going to miss it.

"Tobias Runner!"

"I volunteer!" He pushed his way to the stage, easily towering over his competition.

Darren almost looked nervous. "Oh, um…. and your name is?"

Corg scowled menacingly, "Corg Bruster."

Darren nodded jerkily and turned back to the crowd. "District 2, I give you your new tributes!"

Corg crossed his arms as the crowd burst into thunderous applause. The mayor came again and read the Treaty of Treason and Corg was forced to shake hands with Satin, then they were escorted to the Justice Building and shown to different rooms. Corg stood and waited for his father to come in. When he did, his father held out two small objects in his hand, a pair of rings, one with a silver skull, one with a gold flower.

His father cleared his throat, "These were your mother's and mine, I want you to take them as your token, Corg, and come back home with them on."

Corg nodded. "I will father." He took the pair of rings and slipped them on his middle fingers, his father's on his right hand, his mother's on his left. He and his father stood in silence, they had never talked much except for training, until a Peacekeeper came in and took his father out, leaving Corg totally alone and waiting to go to the train station.

* * *

**Satin Cambridge**

Satin kept glancing at her new district partner as they were led to the Justice Building. He was HUGE, at least a foot taller than her and had pale white skin and blood red eyes… creepy. She was glad when she was shown into her room and the door was shut between her and him. Her parents were let in and her mother immediately hugged her.

"Oh, Satin, we're so proud of you!" Her mother glanced at the door. "Kill him as soon as you can, he'll be your biggest threat in the arena."

Satin looked to her father, who cleared his throat, "Win it, Satin, District 2 doesn't need another Bruster victory."

Satin nodded and said quietly, "Yes father, I will, I promise."

All too soon her parents were taken out and her best friend, Keion Cobalt, was ushered in, cigarette in hand. He and Satin had a sort of Brother-Sister relationship, he looked out for her, she looked out for him… currently she was trying to get him to stop smoking, she would laugh at him and say that people must be able to smell him all the way over in District 12 and so he'd been trying to quit. She guessed that the stress of her volunteering for the Hunger Games must have brought back a relapse.

They hugged, and Keion whispered, "You nervous?"

Satin shrugged. "Maybe a little, but this is my chance to prove to my dad I'm worth his time and affection." She was breathing hard, excited.

Keion shook his head. "If that's what you want, I'm not going to argue with you, but I still think you are worth more than you give yourself credit for, he just doesn't see it." He shook his head again. "oh well, I suppose I'll just have to wait until you get back, right?"

They both laughed at that and as they were, a Peacekeeper came in, signaling that their time together was over. Keion called over his shoulder at her, "Good luck, Satin!" and the door was shut firmly behind him until it was time for her and…. Corg, was it?... were led to the train station and filmed boarding the train, she waving, Corg just glaring…. Yep, the 18th Hunger Games were going to be interesting indeed….

AN: I still need Arena ideas, even if all the tribute spots are filled, submit your ideas in a review or PM me, I don't care either way!

LM


	7. District 3 Reapings

AN: I am soooo sorry for being so long in updating, I had Finals at school and have been too busy to BREATHE, let alone write. Either way, only one person got the answer to my last question right. In a pound of gold, measured by a jeweler, there are 14 gold ounces in a pound of gold, most of you probably thought I asked a trick question, and you are right to keep a lookout for those, they will be here…. Anyways, here we are: the District 3 Reapings  
LM ;)

* * *

District 3: Ari Michelle Faraday

"ARI! WAKE UP!" shouted her older sister, Lindsay. Ari groaned; it was Reaping day, one of the few days of the year she was actually allowed off of work and sleep in….. Leave it to Lindsay to have her wake up at…. NO WAY! It couldn't be 10AM already! Her sister pushed open the door and roughly shook her shoulder. "Get up, Ari, I thought you wanted to meet your friends before the Reaping today."

She really wasn't, she was going to meet the IPT, the Innovational Pupils for Tomorrow, was meeting today. The IPT was one of the few things in District 3 that gave Ari joy. It was comprised of only the 5 brightest young minds in all of District 3, but she avoided telling anyone that she was on it, just to avoid getting a big head, so instead told everyone that she met friends, or was in a school study group when she had to go to meetings. But her sister was wrong; they weren't meeting until tomorrow, when they could see if everyone was still safe.

"I'm getting up, thanks for waking me up, Lindsay" Ari said nicely. Her sister had gotten very angry when their father was murdered by the Capitol a few years ago and had taken out her anger on Ari, but Ari had simply killed her with kindness and Lindsay had gradually warmed up, if still a little bitter and negative. Ari climbed out of bed, brushing her long blonde hair behind her ears and strode to her closet to grab her Reaping outfit, giving her sister a big kiss on the cheek as she went…. Lindsay scowled, but didn't comment. Sighing, Ari pulled out her dulled silver dress with the gold belt, it made her looks stunning, the silver making her emerald eyes pop and the gold enhancing her honey blonde hair. To finish it off, she put on the silver and sapphire pendant that her father had given her for her 13th birthday. She loved it dearly as it reminded her of her father… secretly she missed him, he was killed for his rebellious ideas and because it was rumored that he had been trying to start another Uprising against the Capitol… the stupid, unwashed Capitol with its candy shop colors and strange people. Strange people like District 3's escort, Tanya Masilin. She never looked the same two years in a row, one year, she's had neon grin eyes and bright red hair, some of Ari's friends had joked about how that was her holiday year. Another year she had a live bird tied to the top of her head… that had cause quite the laugh when it got fed up with her and proceeded to attack Tanya, pecking at her face and neck, making Tanya nearly fall off the makeshift stage and into the crowd below. Idly, Ari wondered what ridiculous getup she would have on this year as Ari went to brush her hair and teeth.

In the hall she nearly ran into her mother, Wendy. Wendy was kind and loved both Ari and Lindsay dearly, but often had to work long hours at the office for only a mediocre pay. Wendy pulled her into a hug and then held her at arm's length to examine her.

"You look lovely, dear, much better than any girl from the Capital," said her mother in her musical voice. It was a standing joke between them: Lindsay had nearly gotten Reaped the year that their father died, but another girl who was practically suicidal took her place… and never came back. They all fully knew that the Capital had set it up; they were just waiting for the year Ari's name was called. Ari dreaded the possibility, but knew her training with the IPT would help her.

* * *

The next few hours passed uneventfully except for watching the update on the Reapings in the other two districts, two of the Career districts. The group looked like Careers and again Ari prayed that this wouldn't be the year her name was called, she prayed that it wouldn't happen at all, that her name would remain in the bowl and out of the Capitol's records of the Game's casualties. Too soon Ari found herself walking with her mother and sister to the Square, too soon Ari found herself walking to the 16's section to meet her best friends and wait for the Reaping to start.

She found her friends Ferrah, Lorainne and Clarice standing in a clump and hugged them. Lorainne ruffled her hair, "Hey, Happy Hunger Games!" Ari simply rolled her eyes and smiled, but inside she was terrified as Tanya click across the stage in a pair of high heels… with goldfish in them… Boy, she had really outdone herself on the stupid meter…

"Hello District 3! Happy Hunger Games! May the odds be ever in your favor!" she said in her stupid Capitol accent. It always sounded so affected to Ari, she was just waiting for one of them to slip up and start talking like normal human being. Tanya teetered over to the glass ball filled with the girls' names and smoothly drew a piece of paper out. Ari held her breath as Tanya cleared her throat and called, "Lucille Boyle" and a girl back in the 13's started screaming…. Lucille was crazy; her brain had suffered massive damage when she got into an electrical accident a year before. Ari couldn't let her be taken and so, before anyone could stop her, she pushed her way to the front of the group. "I volunteer! I volunteer as tribute!" she cried. She pushed herself past the still screaming Lucille and ascended the stage, feeling as if each step was a step up to the gallows.

"Oh, wonderful! See, that's the spirit of the Games, right here!" said Tanya happily. "What's your name?"

Ari swallowed and said clearly "Ari Michelle Faraday."

"Wonderful! Wonderful! Now for the boys!" Tanya flounced over to the other bowl and stuck her arm in, seeming t be reaching for the bottommost slip of paper. Again, she smoothed it out and cleared her throat, "Keenan Masonsen!"

A scrawny dusky skinned boy walked, terrified up to the stage, but unlike for Lucille, nobody stepped forward, nobody was willing to die for him. Even when Tanya called for volunteers, all that they were met with was the whistling of the wind through the Square. The poor boy looked as if he was going to cry or run or be sick or maybe all three as the Mayor read the Treaty of Treason and he and Ari were forced to shake hands. She tried to squeeze his hand reassuringly, but if anything he just looked even more afraid.

* * *

After a tearful goodbye to her mother and her friends, Ari found herself being led to the train station with Keenan… dreading having to leave

New Question: Topic: Electronics

Who invented the computer mouse?

Easy, right? PM me! DO NOT REVIEW WITH IT OR I WILL HUNT YOU DOWN!


	8. Another AN

NOTE: Okay, I've officially decided I'm going to just keep track of sponsor points at home, because I've tried updating the list like 3 times in as may days and NOTHING has changed  
And to those who are trying to give me Arena ideas, I do have a form for that, I'll post it below in case you all forgot  
Also, I should have District 4's Reapings up soon  
Last and certainly not least, to whoever told me I shouldn't only focus on one person per chapter, the other character is a Bloodbath tribute, I'm not going to spotlight them too much, but thank you for the advice

Later ;)  
LM

Arena Form

Terrain:

Weather:

Gamemakers traps? (I need some ideas):

Cornucopia Location:


	9. District 4 Reapings

**District 4 Reapings**

**District 4: Serena "Nightlock" Jet, 14**

Nightlock snuck through the secret tunnel separating Districts 3 and 4, on her way to see her only friend, Sebastian Bennet of District 3. Even though they both risked death or worse if they were caught, the two had developed a fierce friendship over the years. She pushed her long red hair out of her face as she stood in their usual meeting spot, near the center of the mountain and scanned the tunnel, searching for him. She finally spotted him; he seemed to be the only thing that made her happy nowadays, Sebby walked down the tunnel toward her, his glasses crooked again, looking relieved just to be there.

Nightlock gave one of her signature smiles; most people thought it was creepy but Sebby knew better than to fear her, she would never hurt him. "So you made it out of the Reapings again?"

He laughed, his voice filling the tunnel, "Yeah, lucky me, it was Keenan Masonsen, one of the jerks in my housing block, nobody volunteered for him."

Nightlock smiled again, this time even darker than before; she was glad that he had been Reaped, he had once given Sebby a black eye and it had been all she could do not to hunt him down and kill him herself. "Well, good, now we can watch him die like all the others!" She wanted to see this boy suffer and die for all he had done to her Sebby, all the pain he had gone through at that awful boy's hands.

Sebastian said quietly, "We're going to meet here after your district's Reaping, right? I want to be able to celebrate with you." He looked into her eyes, his brown ones meeting her eerie silver ones. Nobody would ever call Sebby handsome, he had a very odd face, but to her, he was the best looking thing in the entire world, her whole world, if truth be told: no one had associated with her much ever since she had killed her family in a blind rage, no one else had even called her by her real name, not even her brother, Steven….. Not that she much cared, mind you, but it was nice to know she could count on Sebastian even when she couldn't count on anyone else in her district. "Serena, I want you to take these," he pulled off his glasses, "Just in case….."

Nightlock took them, touched but knowing she would just give them back in a few hours, "Thanks, Sebby, I'll be sure to bring them back to you." She gave him a quick kiss on the cheek and headed back down the tunnel, toward her own district.

"Serena!"

She called back, "Yeah, Seb?"

Sebastian hesitated, but then nonchalantly. "Nothing, see you in a while!" And with that, she left him standing there, looking afer her with a wistful expression on his face. How could she have known she might never see him again?

* * *

**Hendrik Gilden, 15**

Hendrik walked to the Square with his older brothers and younger sister. They talked back and forth, talking about meaningless stuff, work, what they were going to do with the rest of the day, since it was a holiday, laughing and joking and pretending that there was nothing wrong. His eldest brother, Josh, gave his sister a piggy back ride as his second brother, Jacob, joked about how it was only those three who couldn't be Reaped and if either Hendrik or his last brother, Blake, were he'd have to make a good impression, since the Capitol's sponsors would be the only way someone so untrained would be coming home.

"Ha ha ha, very funny, you know how unlikely that is, someone will volunteer, just like they've done for the last 8 years," said Blake sarcastically as they entered the square. It was done up in bright banners, with camera crews perched from every available space along the roofs of the buildings. Hendrik walked to the 15's section while the rest of his family took their places; Blake in the 16's, the others in the crowd.

The Reaping's opening went uneventfully, except, of course, for when the ridiculously fat escort, Obrien, fell forward onto his face and couldn't right himself. That got a huge laugh from the crowd as a trio of Peacekeepers hurried onto the stage to haul him to his feet. Blushing heavily, the normally enthusiastic Obrien was very brief in saying how honored he was to be there and then making his way to the girls' bowl. Hendrik wasn't too concerned; it wasn't like he had anyone in his family who was going to be Reaped.

"Serena Jet!" Uh oh….. Yeah, nobody in their right mind was going to volunteer for Serena…. better known as Nightlock since she had killed her own family. She was said to be insane, but it was hard to believe as she skipped to the stage, an eerily adorable smile on her face. Obrien seemed enchanted by her, totally unaware of how dangerous a kid she was. He turned to one of his friends, Joey Rivers and whispered, "Wow, didn't see that on coming…."

"I know, man, I hope I don't get-"

"Hendrik Gilden!"

He felt like he was going to be sick, then just felt like he was in a dream as he walked to the stage.

"Hendrik! No!" shouted Blake trying to run to the stage, but Josh was quicker, grabbing his shoulder to keep him away. Hendrik could see the pain on both their faces, but Josh kept a firm hold on Blake, keeping him from volunteering.

As expected, none of the other guys wanted to go against Nightlock, nobody wanted to risk it, so the ceremony went as was tradition and he was forced to shake hands with the little murderess. She surprised everyone, not by accepting his hand, but by stepping forward and hugging him sweetly. She looked up with her creepy silver eyes, and muttered, "Let's play hide and seek!" She smiled, but it sent shivers of fear up Hendrik's spine. He silently promised that if he was coming home in a wooden box, it would not be by this little girl's hand

**AN:**

**Next I think I'll start on the Train rides**

**As for the Questions...  
Well, I actually got 3 PMs for the last question! Now onto the new one!**  
**This is easy: What do mariners measure speed in and how did it get it's name?**

**Last but not least:  
I still would like more Arena ideas, I'm willing to give 2x the points for the ones submitted in the next week**

**Use this form or it won't count**

**Arena Form**

**Terrain:**

**Weather:**

**Gamemakers traps? (I need some ideas):**

**Cornucopia Location:**

**;)**

**LM  
**


	10. District 5 Train Ride

**AN: Hey, it's La Morgana again. I'll make this quick because I know that you probably don't want to read a note, so here we go: I still need to get straightened out who has sponsors already and who doesn't yet. If you all could include it in your review, that would be fantabulous! Thanks**

**Also, to the creator of Maeghan, sorry if I botched your character, she was hard for me to write for some reason and Julian was just one I couldn't get into. And to the District 7 creators, I hope you liked how I managed to add your Reaping, since it was requested.**

**;)**  
**LM**

* * *

**District 5 Train Ride**

**District 5: Maeghan Summerdone, 16**

Maeghan stared out the window as the landscape streaked by, not really caring, but excited about her upcoming adventure. She was probably one of the few people outside Districts 1, 2 and 4 who actually stood a chance in the Games, since her mom had had her trained... well, before she went nuts, that is. Stupid genetic experiments, though living in District 5, that was a bit of an occupational hazard.

She glanced up at her district partner, Julian something-or-other, wondering again why he had volunteered, what was going through his head to do something so stupid. She tried analyzing him, but she didn't know much about him, aside from the fact that he was the pretty boy of District 5. She couldn't figure it out; he was 18, it was his last year of Reaping and yet he volunteers for another guy, even though it's about a 1 in a million shot that he'll win. District 5 had never had a Victor. Weird guy, to be sure, he was watching the other Reapings on the small television on the train, almost as if he waqs studying the face of each of the other tributes. Why did it even matter? Was he trying to figure out who was going to kill him or something? Well, if he flirted with the Career girls as much as he flirted back home, he would probably get his throat ripped out in the blood bath by one of them, if not... well, it's not like he'd be expecting to be the first victor District 5 would have.

Their mentor bounced in. He was another Capitol citizen, the same one who'd been there since the beginning of the Games, Darius Festere. He also happened to double as their escort and looked the part, dark blue skin, red eyes and claws, white hair. He looked like a picture out of their history book, like the flag that had gone out of use when Panem was born.

"Hello Tributes!" That visibly made Julian flinch. She understood, talking as if Tributes were their only name, their only title, made her want to ignore him totally, but he had a big effect on how easy the games would be for her so she listened politely to him prattle on about how excited he was to have a pair of volunteers, how jeloust the other excorts would be, how he might actually have a winner this year, blah, blah, Sponsors, blah, blah, Chariot Rides and Interveiws...

"And, of course, you two will be the talk of Panem, since you _both_ Volunteered" He twittered. Maeghan found her gaze wandering to her District Partner, again watching the Reapings. It was District 7 now, the lumber district. The girl Tribute was only 12, in a white dress with a sparkly belt, who seemed to be smiling... Maeghan could see, even through the TV, that it was all for show, the little girl had tears in her eyes, poor thing. She probably wouldn't last a day into the Games. Then came the boy, Bryce. He looked cute, black hair, green eyes, excited about the prospect of being Reaped.

Yes, he would make a good ally.

* * *

**District 5: Julian Barium, 18**

Julian still couldn't believe it, he was going to the Hunger Games for his best friend's boyfriend... He didn't regret his choice, he wouldn't have been able to stand Erica hurting like that, but he still wished he could be back home, not on this train, speeding toward his death. He knew that Meaghan was one of the ones who would team up with the Careers, she was scarily good with a mace, and he wouldn't have anything to do with that group of monsters. He turned on the small TV in the train car to watch the other Reapings, just to see who he'd be up against. As was expected both District 1 and District 2 had the normal "I will kill you all" attitude... the male one from two even had the look of a brute, "Corg will _kill! _Corg will _destroy!_" Three had a small boy and a stunning girl, but she seemed shallow to him and the boy wasn't going to last long, he looked opnely terrified. Four, surprisingly, didn't have the usual volunteers, just a cute little 14 year old and a nervous looking 15 year old. Hm, maybe they wouldn't be Careers like normal, just your average tributes.

Their mentor came in, bright and bubbly as he was on the stage, babbling on and on, interrupting the live showing of the District 6 Reapings. Julian listened for a while, but then turned back to the Reaping... and was floored by the girl tribute. She seemed to stare right at him through the television. Her name was Iris Larkspur, another volunteer, she stepped up to the stage and announced it to all of Panem. A younger girl cried near the steps, it must have been her sister, the one who was called, she had volunteered for her sister. How enchanting... Julian was instantly ensnared by her, vowing that he would get her home safely.

Even though it meant it would cost him his life.

* * *

**AN 2: Yeah, it's La Morgana again, I and the other Gamemakers got some of the gift costs worked out. Here we go**

_**SUPPLIES**_

**Small supplies, eg an empty canteen or a loaf of bread (specify district, pretty please): 5 points  
**

**Medium supplies, eg a full canteen or a small meal: 7 points  
**

**Large supplies, eg, a tent: 15 points  
**

**If you aren't sure about a supply, include your question in a review or PM me**

* * *

_**WEAPONS**_

**Small weapon, eg a knife: 25 points  
**

**Medium weapon, eg a spear, trident, bow, quiver of arrows (12): 30 points  
Individual arrows are 3 points each (hehe, as one of my fellow Gamemakers said, it's buy 30, get 2 free)**

**Large weapon, eg a sword, a mace: 50 points**

**If there's anything you think I should add, just message me**

**Thanks ;)**  
**LM**

**And for the question:**

**Easy one,  
What was the first animal ever cloned and what was it named?**


	11. District 6 Train Ride

District 6 Train Ride

District 6: Iris Larkspur

Iris picked at her food while her District's escort, Leroy, described their schedule for the next few days, looking almost bored as he did so. She wouldn't regret volunteering for her sister, but she dreaded entering the Arena, knowing it meant she would certainly die. While Leroy talked on about the Chariot Rides and the three Training Days they would get, she thought about her family, how she and her sisters had argued earlier that morning, how scared her 12 year old sister, Narcissus, had looked walking up to the stage. How frantic she had been for someone to volunteer... her tears when Iris had gone up. Iris had never been one to regret, always hoping, always seeing the bright side of things. She always had had hope, even now she was trying to cling to that. She could wield a knife pretty easily, her mother had taken a self defense class before the Dark Days and taught Iris a little, but she'd never thought she'd need it. Well, she wasn't about to lay down and die, she was going to use the Training Days to learn as much as she could and practice what she already knew.

"Of course, you two will need allies in the Arena, try to use the next week to make a few friends, okay? I don't want you two to end up like last year's pair" chimed in our Mentor, Drake. Iris didn't want to remember. "That pair had no allies at all. One was killed by the Career pack in the bloodbath, she was slowly sliced apart by 1's boy and the other was drowned by the District 4 girl when he went to fill up the canteen he'd managed to grab. Their mistake was not having anyone to watch their backs, and so they died for it."

Their mentor then looked Iris and her District partner over, declaring them "Promising enough" and then began to discuss strategy.

"I know I'm going to do whatever it takes to win" Iris said to Drake, sounding more confident than she felt.

Yet, for all her outward assuredness, Drake merely gave her a patronizing smile. "Of course you will, kid, they all say that. But I truly doubt it will make much difference."

* * *

District 6: Lance Tungsten

All Lance wanted to do just then was to go back to his compartment, rather than sit here and discuss his strategy for the Games. He already knew he was going to have an advantage over Iris, with him being so much taller and stronger, it was one of the few things he took real pride in. He pushed his brow hair out of his face and tried to pay attention to the discussion about the best strategy for the Cornucopia. But, he just put on his signature sarcastic smile and listened, commenting often.

His mentor seemed confident he'd do well, especially when he told them about his weight lifting wins. Personally Lance didn't see what was so special about it and he said as much.

"You are strong so you may do well at hand to hand, you come up with a weapon and you've got yourself a kill right there," stated Iris encouragingly. Huh, why was she so nice to him? What had he done to earn her support? Weird chick.

"True," said their mentor, "That and your size give you an advantage over most of the other tributes. Most of them will me a lot scrawnier than you, easy to take out."

He considered that, it might work and it would certainly prove how strong he was. He nodded, yes, that would be best.

He would not fall for being inferior.

* * *

Hey, La Morgana here, with the answer to the last question

It was Dolly the sheep! Kudos to those who got it right

Next question: On medicine:  
Who invented the vaccine and what was the first vaccine for?


	12. District 7 Train Ride

AN: Hey guys, sorry for the slow update, I got locked out of Fanfiction for some reason, couldn't log in for a few days... BUT luckily it got fixed and now here is the next chapter, thanks for being so patient! And now, I present to you the final Train Ride and only elaborated entrance to the Capitol, District 7!

;)  
LM

* * *

**District 7 Train Ride/ Entering the Capitol**

* * *

**District 7: Bryce Flammon**

Bryce was ready to just get off this train already. He had been on it for a day and a half and had explored every inch, now all he needed to do was get through another hour or so and they'd be in the Capitol, ready to get this show on the road. He knew he had a good chance at winning this; his mother and father had made sure of that with him and his brothers, paying Peacekeepers under the table to teach them how to wield a variety of weapons, from a spear to an ax, to throwing knives, all of which he had excelled at, all of which he would use to show that you didn't need to be from a wealthy district to have a fighting chance in these Games. He half way regretted that his 12 year old district partner would have to die as well, but that couldn't be helped, that was how these things went.

Their train went into the dark of a mountain tunnel, the tunnel leading to the Capitol and Bryce started to fell the same excitement that he had felt when he heard his name called for the Reaping. He left his compartment to go find his District partner, who he had nicknamed "Sapling" because she was so darn skinny, and see how she was reacting to being so close. He found her crying in a closet and crouched to her level.

"Hey, Sapling, what's wrong?" He asked, kindly.

She hugged him around the neck, sobbing. "I j-just want to go h-home, I don't want to be here!"

He awkwardly petted her dirty blonde hair, trying to soothe her, but it just made her cry harder it seemed.

"Sapling, you're going to need to stop crying, we're close to the Capitol now and you don't want Panem to see you were crying on the train, do you?" Yeah, maybe he was a little harsh, but he wasn't going to let her hurt her chances. Slim as they already were with her being so weak looking, she didn't need to be thought of as a crybaby too.

She gave a little hiccup as she tried to calm herself and Bryce called one of the Capitol attendants to go and get her a cup of hot chocolate, which he remembered she had liked the night before. She wiped her eyes and drank it quickly, then went to go wash her face to get rid of the tear stains still visible on her cheeks. Bryce had to admit, he liked the kid, she had become almost the little sister he'd never had, growing up in a house full of brothers, and he wished he wouldn't have to have her killed for him to win, but that's how it went.

There could only be one winner of the Hunger Games, and that was going to be him.

* * *

**District 7: Katlyn Marion**

Katlyn didn't know if she liked Bryce calling her Sapling but she let him, it's not like he meant any harm. She might not have liked him much in District 7 if she had met him then but for now, he was the only tie to home she had, aside from her locket, the only thing that tied her to a place of safety. She washed her face in cold water like he told her to and then put her long blonde hair into a pair of pigtails, but then put her hair down because it showed the bruise her father had given her the morning of the Reaping, in one of his drunken rages against the Capitol. Katlyn had put up with him being like that ever since she could remember... maybe if she won the Games, her father would finally see that she _was _worth something, that she could be something he could be proud of. She nearly trembled with excitement as she thought of that. She decided that she would put her hair up, just to show she wasn't afraid to be hurt. Katlyn looked in the mirror and tried to put on the fiercest expression she could, narrowing her hazel eyes and lifting her chin confidently, flashing what she hoped was a winning smile.

A glance out the window showed that they were entering the Capitol and it's citizens were pointing excitedly at the Train, clearly knowing it meant new Tributes had arrived. She walked out of the bathroom to meet her mentor and Bryce. Bryce looked confused at her change of attitude, but pleased nonetheless.

"You ready, Sapling?" He asked, patting her shoulder.

Katlyn nodded, "Yep, the Capitol isn't going to know what hit them," she put on her fierce face again which only seemed to make him chuckle. They walked together to the doors, he looked at her kindly.

"Don't be scared, I'm right next to you, Sapling."

What he didn't know was that she had fully decided in the bathroom; She was going to fight for it.

The doors of the train opened and Katlyn walked out into the forest of people and cameras, head held high.

* * *

And for the question:

Which state in the USA produces the most lumber products?


	13. District 8 Chariot Prep

**District 8: Chariot Prep**

**District 8: Trite Lankon**

Missy was playing her violin again... Trite had to resist stuffing his fingers in his ears because, although she was good, she had been playing it practically nonstop since they left the train staition. Yeah, he got it, it was how she stayed calm, but it was annoying when they were already edgy from going to meet their stylists.

As if in response to his thoughts, a trio of brightly colored Capitol residents came in cattering, two men and a woman. One of the men, the taller, had what looked like a peacock's tail on his head, all feathers rather than hair and a flashing smile, he introduced himself as Byno and the other two as Martinia and Jekyl. The woman, Martinia, had purple hair and green tatoos all over her arms and the other man had small red eyes and long pointy ears, like ann elf in one of the stories Trite's mother had told him as a child. They all chatterd like the elves too as they proceded to scrub him down, give him a haircut and clean his fingernails. They never spoke directly to him, for which he was grateful, he didn't think he'd be able to find any words.

To be truthful, he was still angry from his parents' "goodbye". They hadn't even shown up, just sent a note with his best friend, Tylver, saying that they were sorry, work called them and they'd miss him... not even a "Good luck" or "We'll see you when you get back," nothing, like they'd given him up for dead already. He knew they would have for his twin brother, Algy, if he had still been alive and was Reaped, he was always the confident one, the one who would get through the Games and come home winning, but he had died before he could ever have his name put in for Reaping... only days before, while Trite had survived, and hadn't even gotten through his second Reaping... Trite was the one who should have died in that fire, if the school principal hadn't mistook Algy for Trite then-

"You okay, Trite?" asked Martinia, sounding concerned, "You look like you're about to cry."

Trite wiped his eyes with the back of his hand. "Yes ma'am," he said, feeling shy, "I just can't believe all this is happening to me."

She seemed to think it was a good thing because she clasped her hands under her chin, smiling broghtly at him. "Oh, don't worry, everyone deserves this to happen to them, it's so much excitement!"

Trite winced inwardly, but the prep team kept talking, discussing some of the more horrible deaths so enthusiastically, it made him want to run away. Though that didn't comapare at all to the horror he felt when his stylist walked in, carrying his chariot outfit...

* * *

District 8: Michelle "Missy" Allondite

Missy looked in the mirror, hating the outfit her stylist had put her in. Basically it was a cloth bikini, made from all different kinds of fabric in guady colors. She wasn't going to say anything however, because she knew that they were just trying to help her. Her mentor, Sonya, had played it sexy for the Games and had won easily and now saw Missy as being the next winner, so told her to act sexy as well... the only problem was that Missy didn't feel sexy at all, she just felt exposed and vulnerable.

"How do you like it?" her stylist asked quietly... he'd been nearly silent the entire time, only saying a clutch of words every once in a while.

"It's certaily clear what district I'm from," Missy replied with a forced smile, which caused her stylist to relax a bit as he applied makeup to her face. He gave her deep green eyeshadow, dark red lips and a high flush to her cheeks. He said it made her look excited and beautiful, she thought it made her look like she was drunk.

As soon as he left her she picked up her violin again. The smell of the wood and the rosin comforted her, calmed her down. She began to play, losing her fear and worry in the music. C A F E D D minor, the notes spiraled around her, painting pictures with sounds, getting rid of the negative emotions she's had since she volunteered to save her big sister.

She was going to win this for everyone back in district 8, to show she was good enough for her sister's love.

* * *

AN:  
Hey, It's La Morgana again! Sorry Missy's part is so short, I kept hating how I wrote her and hating how I wrote her and finally decided to just take what I thought was the best parts and add it together.

QUESTION:

What's more valuable per square yard silk or lace?


	14. AN: Arena

Another Author's Note (Yeah, you guys are probably getting tired of these, huh?)

It's La Morgana again. I'm almost done with Districts 9 and 10 so they should be up today or tomorrow, I just need your opinions! I posted a poll for the Arena. Your votes are appreciated!

;)  
LM


	15. Districts 9 and 10 Pre Chariot

Districts 9 and 10 Pre Chariot

District 9: Alicia Wysteria

Alicia was pissed at her stylist. I mean, come on! Who would be impressed by her and her District partner dressed as sardine cans? She glanced at little Hyden beside her as they waited to be shown off to the stupid Capitol citizens. She looked away, annoyed, when she saw he was crying again. He had been such a crybaby ever since they had been Reaped, Alicia had been growing really sick of it. It made her teeth hurt to look at him like that, one of the reasons she missed her little shack; it might not have been much, but it was quiet and alone, just how she liked it. She glanced around at the other Tributes, just to see who she had to kill to get back to it. There was this little girl from 4, dressed now in a neon pink bikini with a mermaid like skirt, who seemed like an easy opponent, she hardly looked old enough to attend a Reaping, let alone kill someone, but there was something about her that made even Alicia hold back, and nothing made Alicia hold back, normally... except for fire... Fire, like the one that had killed her parents, consumed them until they were so much ash, Alicia nearly choked to death on it. She was interrupted from her thoughts by one of the other girls... District five or six, she thought, bumped into her, looking rather ridiculous in a green dress and a stupid silver headdress.

"Oh, sorry," she gasped, "I didn't see you there, I'm Meaghan, District five." She held out a hand, as if expecting Alicia to shake it. Alicia simply stared coldly at it, then back at Meaghan, who narrowed her eyes. "Oh, I see you were busy being alone. Later, then." And with that, Meaghan stalked off, going to stand, not with her District partner, but with the tributes from one and two... the Careers. Well, whatever, Alicia knew she was going to win this one way and one way only, it was why she wouldn't take allies. She would be used to being...

Alone

* * *

District 10: Katriel Seraven

Katriel glared towards the Careers, especially at one... Silk or Lace or whatever her name was. The girl had tried to recruit her to join them but she had steadfastly refused. They were overconfident, brutish and had no snese of mercy and she would not be remembered for teaming up with them. Now the bubble headed blonde was nagry with her and they were having a stare down. Eventually, Blondie's district partner had to growl something that sounded suspiciusly like, "She'll be dead before the fist day is over, anyway," beofre she would turn away, smugly.

Katriel tried in vain to pull her skirt down so it covered a little more of her legs as the hulking boy stared at her with crimson eyes, licking his teeth creepily. She turned away quickly, rubbing her tanned arms. He frightened her, it looked like he was one of the Capitol's mutts, not a real human being.

Her little District partner, Tobin, pulled on her vest, asking in his quiet voice, "When is it time to go?"

Katriel smiled a little, she had grown fond of him over the last day and a half. "Soon, kid, really soon, I promise." She fixed his cowboy hat so it sat stragiht again. Yes, their stylists had dressed them, very unoriginally, as a cowboy and girl. Their chariot had charging horses on it and was the colors of the pastures of home, yellows and greens and browns, it was all very beautiful. She let Tobin put her token, a silver circlet, looking like woven thron and vines, around her hat's brim and helped him into the chariot as the anthem started to blast through the city. She looked at little Tobin, looking very nervous and was determined that District 10 would have a winner this year.

It would be either her or him.

AN:

kay, NEW QUESTION!

Easy peasy, this time concerning the books: What district were Twill and Bonnie from?


	16. District 11 Chariot Ride

AN: And now we have District 11! Plus a little introduction to four of our Gamemakers, who will be appearing again through the story!

**District 11: Chariot Ride**

**District 11: John Atticus**

John looked around at the other tributes, shaking his head at the getups most of them had been squeezed into... One of them, the girl from 3 was in gold and silver coils spun around a glittery silver dress that lights up and shines, hugging her curves WAY too much. She, however, didn't seem to mind. She was over, chatting away with her little District partner as they were loaded into their chariot. Destrict 1 went through the doors, clad in shining, multicolored outfits, looking as good as the last sets of tributes their district had sent... 1 always seemed to be one of the favorites of the Capitol. District 2? They were dressed as gems, the girl was a sapphire, the guy was a diamond. For 4, the girl looked like a mermaid from one of Aspen's grandmother's stories while the guy was dressed in sea blue, an almost too big for him shirt opened in the front to reveal a toned chest. His hair was loose, it looked like it had been left alone... lucky him. For District 5, they were dressed as strands of DNA, it was not a good look for either of them. Period. The girl, like some of the other girls, had her hair cut shorter than it was when she had been Reaped. He guessed that was survival strategy, long hair was essentially just one more hand hold that would get them killed, it didn't make sense to have it long and flowing when they were going to just be fighting for their lives in under a week.

Both from six were dusted in bronze dust and had what looked like herb leaves in their hair. Wow, their stylists must have been some kind of crazy to think that looked good. The pair from 7 were clearly woodcutters, but it didn't look like the normal getup. The guy had a long, lethal axe in hand, his short hair tousled handsomely, long green pants, a gold, billowing shirt with what appeared to be twigs and leaves sticking out from hair, shirt, and pants... the pair looked great... if the little girl had been any older than 12.

Missy and Trite, from 8 had talked to John before the everything was in place for the chariot rides and they seemed nice, so it was a double shock when the pair were in little more than a few scraps of different cloths, there wasn't enough fabric to make a towel between them. It was rather pathetic to look at the pair of them. Trite hadn't been given a token, but Missy had her violin with her and she was playing it, but it just seemed to annoy Trite, who looked almost like he wished she would break a string or something.

John hated the way the Capitol had turned this into some kind of show, it would be so much more logical if everyone just went back to how things were said to have been before the Dark Days, when every District was said to be self sufficient. He'd read about it in his spare time away from working in the bakery and when he came back from his hunting trips. Working in the bakery wasn't much, but it put food on the table since his father had died and it made him some friends, which he was sorely lacking. Hunting was fun, he was handier with snares than he was with any weapon, but it had alo taught him to identify herbs, which he knew he could use in the Games...

Use it to win

* * *

**District 11: Aspen Ruddowe**

Aspen pushed back her new, almost brutally short, haircut out of her face, before her stylist swatted her hand, crying, "No! No! No! You'll ruin the effect!" Like there was any effect left... she had had her hair grown all the way down to her waist at one point and now it didn't even touch her shoulders. It made her want to cry, how could these people have been so centered on their own imaginings of someone that they didn't even consult them before making such a drastic change? it was wrong and rude and... totally out of her control as she stood, dressed in a hideous yellow dress and what seemed to be a green trench coat, buttoned at the bottom so it rose to her slender waist and a long stiff collar with frayed strips of the same hideous fabric and a feathery sort of headdress to top it all off. She looked, in a word, terrible, but she didn't complain, she just wanted this over with. Her district partner, John, one of her old school friends, wasn't much better off, the only modification was that only his shirt was yellow, his pants just matched his coat. John was nice, she knew that she could rely on him in the Arena as well as outside it Their stylists had said how well the green had gone with their eyes. For the record, only her eyes were green, John's eyes were more of a dreamy blue. Either way, it didn't keep their stylists from tweeting away like a pair of birds

"Oh! You simply must smile more," that was John's stylist, Jazzy, she seemed perpetually peppy, the exact opposite of John. "You will make the entire audience simply faint when they see how wonderful you look!"

Aspen may have been an optimist, but she was in no way naive, she knew that this outfit would make them seem all the stupider to all of Panem, explaining why District 11 was one of only three districts to have never had a Victor. Them, 3 and 12, in 18 years none of them had had any sucess in the Games and there was no reason to start hoping now for a win. But, according to John, the statistics got better each year; eventually they would have a winner and this year...

It would be District 11's year. So she thought as the Chariot went out into the Capitol.

"Smile, Aspen," whispered John, he moved his mouth to continue, but his words were lost in the thunderous cheering.

* * *

**Head Gamemaker: Morgana LaRosa**

Morgana shuffled through her papers as she sat in her seat in the City Circle, looking at the faces she'd again be responsible for killing. She listened, amused as Alexi Empire, one of her assisting Gamemakers went on and on about how this arena was going to be so delightfully brutal, saw Damien, who was one of Alexi's brothers and another Gamemaker, glare at a Mockingjay.

"A perversion of a genetic masterpiece," he always called them... she knew he was just sore about how he had created the Jabberjays and now nature was doing it's best to claim them. She completely understood that, just like she hated how her wonderful Arenas were now tourist attractions, of all things. These Games weren't designed for that, they were meant to be a punishment. That is what President Ashers had said when the council had first gotten together to create it. Morgana had been in on it, as had Damien, Alexi and their third brother, Rainen. They had all been chosen because they weren't' like most other Capitol citizens, they were soldiers during the rebellion... it was the Empire brothers who had kept their squad alive when they were starving in enemy territory, convinced everyone the only way they were staying alive was to not let _anything_ go to waste.

Don't get her wrong, she was glad they had, but was it really necessary for Rainen to have his teeth filed to razor sharpness in memory? Oh well, she loved the trio, they were practically family to her, it was their home she had stayed in when she had found out hers had been vandalized by the Rebels and they who had encouraged her to apply for the position of Head Gamemaker.

She thought about this as she watched the Tributes ride into the Circle to the blaring music of the Anthem. She watched each district pair, noting which seemed indifferent to each other, which was smiling and waving at the crowd, which ones looked terrified, all so she could use it in her games.

She had a show to run, after all...

* * *

_AN: Hey, it's La Morgana, yet again!_

_Oh! The Games are almost here! I can almost taste them! I and my other Gamemakers have been hard at work, and I have a warning! Tributes who do not get Sponsors will die early, I even have a few ideas for them already! For their sakes, I need the info, since I only got a few answers_

**_THE SAFE ARE:_**  
_Entire Districts:_  
_1,2,4,7_

_Individuals:_  
_Trite Lankon, D8_

_Will die, no matter how many people want to sponsor them:_  
_Keenan Masonsen, D3_  
_Hyden Richards, D9_  
_Tobin Herder, D10_  
_Tiffany Summers, D12_  
_(Please note, these aren't anybody's Tributes but the ones that were made specifically for the Bloodbath)_

_This means that 11 Tributes are still unaccounted for!_

_I also think you should know that the training chapters are going to be from the Head Gamemaker's point of veiw, since she's supposed to see everything. Then it's just the interviews and then (Insert dramatic music here) THE ARENA!_

_Okay, here comes the question!:_

_What on Earth was the pair from 11 dressed as? _  
_Please note, even guesses will earn points for this, I just want to know if you guys can tell, you do get double points for getting it right, though_

_;)_  
_LM_


	17. AN: Just a few things

AN: Yes, it is just an Author's Note, I may not update for a while, I have a big project to do...

TO laralulu :: Yes, you may sponsor a tribute, even if you didn't submit one

And a bit of a note to my reviewers... If I can count the number of words in your review on my fingers, I'm not going to give points for it. I mean, come on, really? You count "Good chapter. Update soon" as a review? Really?

Mildly exasperated

LM

PS: The Arena Poll is still open for voting, but I can tell you, one of them is clearly winning


	18. District 12: PreTraining

**AN: All I have to say is: Thank goodness for public transit and netbooks**

**District 12: Post-Chariot**

**District 12: Cropen "Stelter" Frose**

Stelter pulled off his ridiculous headlamp headdress as soon as he was in the elevator, crammed inside with four other tributes: the creepy little girl from 4 who seemed to be perpetually smiling, but not in a good way, not with those eyes, like she was going to sneak up behind you and slit your throat at any second; the gorgeous blonde from 2, way out of his league, but damn, she was hot; and they guy from 5 and the girl from 6, talking to each other like they were old friends... no not friends, something more than just friends, it was apparent in the way he kissed her hand before getting off the elevator that "Just Friends" wasn't what he was after.

Little Tiffany, his District Partner, was waiting for him with their Mentor/Escort, Becsara Something-Or-Other, who was talking with Tiffany; it looked like Tiffany had been crying. He didn't bother to care since every little kid who had been thrown into the Games looked like they had been crying. 3, 7, 9 and 10, it wasn't likely they'd last the entire first day, let alone have any chance a all at winning, so why bother to bother with them?

He tried to sneak off to bed, so he'd be well rested for training the next day but Bescara looked up and saw him. "Oh, good! You're here! We need to discuss tomorrow!" He dejectedly walked over, hoping she'd get the hint about how little he valued her advice... She didn't.

"Now, tomorrow in the training room you two need to be as social as you possibly can, you'll need allies in the Arena, people you can fight with to keep from getting killed. After all, as one of the Gamemakers said to me in a party just last season; There is strength in numbers, hence why the Careers do so well each year, they work together to win" She was positively bouncing in happiness... Stelter didn't see why, District 12 had NEVER had a tribute get anywhere near winning, usually among the first 12 or so to die. Why should they be any different than every other tribute before them? they had been taught this in school: 391 children dead, only 17 winners so far, the odds were in nobody's favor. And yet, he agreed to make an effort, to try to befriend the others who would probably end up killing him anyway, no matter how friendly they were in training.

He went to his room and was amazed by the variety of gadgets inside, he didn't see how anyone would evr be able to have a use for all these buttons. And yet they each seemed to do something different. He changed out of his costume and scrubbed the stage makeup from his face, dressing in a simple pair of brown pants and a red shirt. He eventually heard Bescara calling him and went out, seeing that his stylist, Jamelle, was with her too.

"What's up?" He asked the pair, guardedly, knowing that these two together could wind up being a disastrous combination.

Jamelle giggled. "Oh, nothing, it's just getting late, we thought you might be hungry!"

They sat down for dinner, heaping plates of food were set in front of him and Stelter began to eat hardily... until something made the food stick in his throat; he realized that they were being fattened up for the Games, because there was no way the Capitol people thought that they were fed like this at home. It was clever, but he would have none of it, so he pushed his plate away and excused himself to his room, where he fell asleep fitfully. But one thought cut through his dreams:

He would not be just another District 12 tribute. He needed to survive this...

* * *

**Capitol: Morgana LaRosa**

Morgana gave one last look over the Training room before heading out to go home, going off her checklist. Plants Station: Useless, it's not like too many of the children actually went to it, even though it would have saved several of their lives... maybe given that idot Career pack from last year a run of more than two days, thanks to Daimen's nightlock patch. The girl from 2 had thought they were edible, "Oh, it's just fine!" and almost as one they ate the deadly berries... Morgana thought now of the little girl from 4, whom they had chosen to be in the Games, rigging the Reaping so her name would be called. Morgana had been told that her nickname was "Nightlock" since there was a nasty rumor she had killed her own parents. A true rumor, if Capitol records were anything to go by.

Then there was the girl from 6, Iris Larkspur. Alexi had been the one to rig it so her sister was in the Games, but it had worked out, she supposed, with the boy from 5. Anyone could see after the Chariot Rides how they looked at each other. It reminded her of an old song she had once heard, a song older than Panem, back when it was still North America and divided into multiple countries, she still had it on her music player if she looked for it. Only she knew that wasn't going to happen...

She moved on, on to the camouflage station, the one she valued the least. Who knew, maybe one of the smaller Tributes would put it to use... for once. She hoped, since cameoflauge was only good, it seemed, for small ones and the dying. Maybe the girl from 7. Oh well, she shrugged.

She moved on to the weapons, but of course, that was already in order, Rainen was to thank for that. Still, she tried a few of the blades, remembering her glory days; killing Rebels, fighting the for the Capitol, getting captured by the Rebels and "interrogated"...She'd kept a few of the scars from that, so the Districts remembered who she was. Then the first Games, when she had actually had to manually set off a trap and nearly got killed herself. Just the feel of steel in her hands made her remember all this and more and it was only with regret that she moved on to the traps and snares.

None of the traps any previous Tribute had set had been useful at all to kill an actual human, but traps were a wonderful way to get food and keep from getting caught in a chase. Tripwires, twitch up snares, all was good, but it made her think of the boy from 11, looking too bookish to be from the agricuture disrtict, and the girl from 3, looking too srong to be from the place that they only manufactured technology. Both were odd ducks, as it appeared, but both looked like they might put this one to good use.

She moved to the climbing wall, check. The swim station, check. Fire making, wrestling, the varied obstacle courses, check, check, check. She was about ready to leave when the high, nasaly voice of the head trainer sounded from the door; "Are you quite done yet? Or do you want to check if we've got enough flint for making fires?"

Morgana repressed a sigh as she turned to look at him critically, tossing her metalic silver hair over her shoulder... she had had it dyed to echo the metal only a day before the Reapings, and already she missed her natural color, but oh weel, it hid the grey that was beginning to show far too early for her taste. "Yes," she said icily, "And I believe it is time we locked up, Terre." She strode over to the elevators and rode them back ro the ground floor, Terre following her hasitly. Once he was out and the doors were safely shut, she keyed in the code to keep them from being activated until the morning rolled around and then flounced out the door.

Her Games would not be so easily ended this year, she had made sure of that...

* * *

**AN: Okay, the poll for the Arena is going to be closing now... Sorry, Erica N Peterson, it wasn't yours, it was {insert dramatic music here} the Alice in Wonderland style forest!**

**Let me tell you this, this is going to be BRUTAL on the tributes, I almost wish this one hadn't won... you know, almost ;)**

**Until later, everyone!**  
**;)**  
**LM **

**As for the question: What song are these lyrics from: (And yes, you will see them again)  
**

**_Don't take your love away from me! Don't you leave my heart in misery! Cuz if you go, then I'll be blue!_  
**


	19. Two Things

No, not an update, but one is coming before the weekend is out!

2 things, one apology and one rant

I AM SOOOOOO SORRY THAT I HAVEN'T UPDATED IN FOREVER! It's getting close to finals here and I've been studying a ton! I feel pretty confident now, but still, until school lets out, I may not be updating too much and I am very very very very very sorry for that. I nearly have the Training done, so it is coming, I promise!

Okay, warning, slight rant coming.

Since it's so close to the games, I need to know people are listening, I have gotten reveiws from a lot of people, but I'm not going to let someone who doesn't reveiw have their tribute win... they may not even get a kill in the Games. (just so you know, I'm a little bit steamed, one of my tributes I submitted, that I have been faithfully reviewing for, just got killed on the first night... by someone who has barely reviewed at all, that's not going to fly here) I'll put a list of who's (relatively) safe and who will die within the first couple of days if I don't get some response, but trust me, the veiw is looking bleak for the, so unless I get some kickass reviews, they will be killed with fire... FFFFIIIIRRRREEEE! {ahem}

So far, I have the following list of who has reveiwed... and who hasn't

District 1: Both safe

District 2:  
Satin is safe  
ELMO-fAN cLUB MeMbER needs to send in at least 1 reveiw!

District 3:  
One is a bloodbath  
Ari is safe

District 4: Both are safe

District 5:  
Need to hear from thebookreader!  
DazzilenatheGreen needs to reveiw!

District 6:  
MusicIsInMySoul977, Iris will dies an agonizing death if I don't get some response!  
I promise I will kill Lance if I don't hear that All I Do Is Win is really reading!

District 7: Both are safe

District 8:  
I'll break Missy's violin for Trite if GreenLeaves doesn't give me a shout!  
Trite, on the other hand, is safe

District 9:  
DazzilenatheGreen, again!  
And her partener was a Bloodbath anyway, so he's dead already

District 10:  
Katriel is safe, but her partner is a bloodbath

District 11:  
MusicIsInMySoul977, watch out!  
John will be alright, though

District 12:  
Steller, as his name acutally was, is safe  
His little District partner is not, and never was

That's 12 in the Bloodbath right there! That's not good! 8 of them are the tributes that were submitted to me! Unless I get some reveiws this will be so!

Sorry for the rant, but it had to come


	20. Training Begins

**Training Day 1**

**D1: Kathleen Mason**

Kat was woken by her annoying mentor rapping on her door, "Come on! Get up, kid! If you want to survive these games you can't be sleeping this late!" Kat looked at the clock, it was 8:32, about an hour and a half until she had to be down in the training center with Nickolas. She smiled when she thought of him, he was sweet to her and handsome to boot, flirting with her the entire train ride, even if he was kind of chauvinistic.

She stretched and got out of bed, donning the tasteful red tunic and leggings her stylist had laid out for her and heading out for breakfast. As she stepped out of her room, she felt a strong arm wrap around her waist and a pair of lips press against her temple with a playful growl. "Hey sexy," Nickolas whispered right in her ear, pulling her close to him. She had to laugh, for a split second she had been taken by surprise, but she knew Nickolas wouldn't hurt her.

"Hey," she said, turning to wrap her own arms around his shoulders, standing on her toes to try and even their heights... it wasn't very effective, but it worked better than nothing. He wrapped his strong arms around her, lifting her slightly, and worked a little better.

"You think we should go see what our mentors have to say?" he asked, speaking right in her ear.

She sighed. "I suppose we should, they'll need to know our strategies..." They would, of course, potential sponsors wouldn't be too interested if they didn' t have some idea of who they were sponsoring...

They had an impression to make...

* * *

**D1: Nickolas Thorne**

An hour later, Nickolas was one of the first to arrive in training, him and his eye candy of a partner... and eye candy was about all she was good for, their mentor had grilled her on the weapons she knew how to use, but it seemed she wasn't good at much except for long range weapons. Well, at least that would mean she'd be easy to pick off, one less threat to him in the Games.

"Ready to meet our team mates?" She asked in a light, airy voice that made him want to just ignore her, how was anyone supposed to take her seriously, with a voice like that? She sounded like a kid!

Nevertheless, he had to keep her thinking that they could be sweethearts. He had flirted with her on the train and she seemed to think he really liked her. He wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her close, planting a kiss on her forehead... pretty much the only part her could get to without having to stoop over. "You know it, sexy." Yeah, that worked, she giggled, she actually giggled.

He still kept his arm around her as they walked out... and came face to face with a trio of Gamemakers. One was tall, with what looked like flames on his head and in his eyes and teeth filed to points. The other two were shorter, but were just as intimidating in their own ways. One's eyes and hair were totally black, even where the whites of his eyes should be and he regarded Nickolas and Kathleen coldly, as if calculating the best way for them to die. The third looked insane, bight yellow hair that stuck up straight, as if he was being electrified, with a bright grin plastered on his recognized them from old television broadcasts, the three were considered heroes in the Capitol. Granted they looked a little different than the 18 year old pictures, but that was understandable.

The crazy looking one laughed when he saw them. "Oh, look! We have another couple! Morgana will be so thrilled!"

The dark haired one shook his head, "Come along, Alexi, we need to meet with the others, before we go into the training room," and with that he grabbed the crazy one, Alexi, by the arm and they went away, dark purple robes swishing behind them.

Nickolas felt Kathleen let out a sigh of relief. "Do you think those were the three who..." she trailed off. He understood what she meant...

In real life, those who could kill you are much more intimidating

* * *

**D2: Satin Cambridge**

Satin looked up as her would be allies from 1 came into the training room. The girl was just as short as she looked on television, there was no way she'd last long without help. But if the way her district partner looked at her was genuine, they'd be pairing up, just like the two from 5 and 6, but there was no way they'd both be able to win, one or the other would die. Either way, they'd all have to die for her to win, her allies, the brute standing next to her, the little kids from the poorer districts, every single one.

Corg grunts beside her. "'Bout time you two showed up," he half snarls at them. Jeeze, what was it with this guy? They still had 15 minutes until 10, when they were allowed to start. Granted, even District 4 had shown up, though it wasn't like either of them were going to be in the Career pack, more likely let live until the Bloodbath was over and then stabbed in the back, but still, it was a long time until they could even see what skills they each had.

The girl, Katie ro Kimmy or something like that, smiled, a little embarrassed. "We were held up at the elevators, sorry!"

"By what?" D4's guy looked confused, like he couldn't imagine what could hold people up at an elevator, even though obviously, being Careers, the pair had run into another tribu-

"Gamemakers, three of them," the guy from one said, squeezing his partner around the shoulders.

"Gamemakers?" Corg scoffed, uhg, he was annoying. "Is that it? Or did you actually think they could do anything now?"

The little girl from 4 tittered, "Well, we still should be nice! What if we win and they want to be our friends?" Her smile bordered on crazy, and even as small as she was, she was spooky looking.

"Oh come on," Satin snapped, not wanting to admit her unease at the little girl, "It's not like the Games are ending tomorrow!"

"But still," Corg snickered, "With luck, we'll be going home in under a week."

* * *

**D3: Ari Michellle Faraday**

She looked around, looking at her competition with disinterest, until she found the group she was looking for: the Careers, the ones she had to watch out for. She planned on hiding her talents she'd learned from the IPT from them, appear weak and vulnerable and not one that they'd want in their pack.

She noticed them sizing everyone up, considering their options, District 7 was strong looking, the guy was handsome, the girl was pretty, it might be enough to get them invitations to join the pack. Well good, she thought, two more tributes who would definitely die. The Careers would end up killing them once the real fighting began, when there were only a few tributes left... But no, she couldn't think about that. The Head instructor explained the training stations to us and the whole protocol: They'd have two and a half days to practice with the others in the room, then on the afternoon of the third day, they'd have a private session with the Gamemakers, excetera.

When they were released, she headed over to the climbing wall, something she could improve on and began listening to her instructor go on about safety and how to pick the best route up. She looked up as she began climbing when the Gamemakers came in.

There were 15 of them, men and women, but one of them caught her eye, the Head Gamemaker since the beginning of the games. She might have been pretty once, but now she was just as frightening looking as on television, a thick scar climbing from her scalp, above her right eye, trailing down to her chin. Her pale blue eyes looked oddly lifeless, fixated on the Careers, then darting around the room to each of the other groups. She looked like an old Victor of the Games, but of course, she couldn't be, she was a Capitol citizen, that everyone knew, but she had clearly been through hell in the Rebellion and the way she looked at the tributes, Ari shuddered, her tributes, this woman would show no inhibitions if she was asked to come and kill them all herself.

The three others who Ari had seen run into the District 1 couple seem to be with her a lot, speaking to her as if they were all old friends, one of them pointing unabashedly at various Tributes, the boy from 2, so tall and frightening looking, the woman seemed rather disgusted when she saw him, and said something that got them all laughing, the tiny girls from 7 and 12, who seemed to have teamed up, something that might have been condescension crossed her face at that, the boy from 3, shaking as he saw the girl from 4 join him at the knife station and hit the bullseye every time she threw one. At that, every Gamemaker, trainer and tribute looked, the little girl couldn't be more than 14, adorable and, at least from a distance, innocent looking, but she was clearly as cold as anyone in her district.

Ari shivered again, getting a look of concern from her trainer...

Any one of the people in here could be the one to kill her. She wasn't going to let that happen so easily...

* * *

**D4: Nightlock Jet**

Nightlock was thoroughly enjoying making Keenan squirm, especially since he was the one who picked on Sebby so much... Sebby, she wondered if he would think it was a good thing that she was allying with the other Careers. Ah well, she'd kill them all eventually, it didn't matter if she allied with anyone... in fact, she probably would set out on her own, not ally with her fraidycat of a District partner or any of the other stupid Careers, though, as soon as she got her hands on a knife, it was going in Keenan's back.

"Hey, kid, we're moving on!" called the dumb District 2 blonde, expecting her to join the Careers... like her mentor had said to. Well, she supposed that she could keep up the act for a while, convince them that she was on their side, so she gave Keenan a big kiss on the cheek, enjoying how he shuddered at it and skipped after them as they went to the edible plants station, just to practice some survival skills they might need.

It seemed dumb, so as the trainer was explaining, Nightlock let her eyes wander... and happened to see one of the Gamemakers standing just a few feet away, watching them. Weird... oh well, her looked fun, bright and bubbly, like one of the fizzy drinks her daddy had brought home the New Years before she had thrown a fit and killed them all... well, all except her brother, Stevie, but Stevie didn't count, he was so rude to her, not calling her Serena, just Nightlock, like everyone else... oh well, is she got out, he'd be the first to die

Or one of the last, depending on how you looked at it

* * *

**D4: Hendrik Gilden**

By lunch, the Career pack had two new official members, the girl from 5, Maeghan, she was a little nuts, but her mother had had her trained, she was KILLER with a mace, and pretty, so Nickolas seemed to like her, and then there was Trite, District 8. He was clever and had impressed Kat with one of his plans as he was sitting down, moving his food around to demonstrate.

Well, good, two more that he could go without killing, the other Carers would take care of them. He was going to do as little killing as he could manage, but he knew that eventually, he'd have to, if he wanted to get home. Around the lunch room, not many were eating together, the boy from 5 and the girl from 6 sat together, but that was about it, the guy from 2, Corg, had the idea that the Career pack sit together, so all 8 of them gathered rowdily around a couple of tables they shoved together. Hendrik wasn't really afraid of them, he knew he could slip under tha radar, after all, he was Reaped, not a Volunteer, they didn't count him as too much, but he already knew his strategy, he'd discussed it with his mentor.

Eventually Lunch ended and they went back to the training room. Hendrik went over to the knot tying station, not because he needed it, but because it reminded him of home. Home, with his 2 elder brothers, twin and little sister... he wondered how they felt, seeing him amongst the other tribues last night, what would they think of him plotting to kill his opponents, if they would expect him to come home... they had to, Josh had stopped Blake from volunteering, so they must think he had a chance...

Right?

* * *

**AN: And with that, half of the tributes who have support are seen together! The other half wlll be featured on the next training day, so don't you worry! I'm really sorry it took so long to update, I really am, but finals are coming and I had to study... next to NO time to write, the only actual time I was able to work on this was on the bus ride to college. THANK GOD FOR NETBOOKS AND USB DRIVES! I'm going to work on getting the next training day done soon!**

**Well, we met who's who in the Career pack, but is little Nightlock going to turn truant? What about the one sided romance between District 1's Don Juan, Nickolas Thorne and confident Kathleen Mason? Who is going to have the honor of killing the ferocious Corg Bruster? What trouble will the four vengeful Gamemakers cook up for our tributes? Stay tuned to find out**

**;)**  
**LM**

**AND THE QUESTION:**  
**Just randomness that popped into my head: How many tributes (I mean different personalities, backstories, the whole shabang, not just copies of one tribute) do you have out now? (This won't affect your tribute in the games one bit, I'm just curious. It's an easy couple of points)**

**And one final point, I'm going to put a still open SYOT that needs endorsement and tributes, please support the new comer! .net/s/7013676/1/204th_Hunger_Games_Ready_or_Not  
**


	21. Making Alliances Or not

**Training Day 2**

**I am still skipping the ones who I know are going to die, here are the remaining 6 tributes I didn't get to in the first training day**

**I'm killing the review-less  
**

**;)**  
**LM PS. Thank you for letting me rant a while back, I needed to blow off steam BIG TIME, Finals are stressful**

**This chapter brought to you by the 3 Doors Down song "Kryptonite" which was playing through my head enough to keep me awake to write this**

* * *

**D7: Katlyn Marion**

Katlyn slipped on her training outfit her stylist had set out for her; a set of pink sweat pants and a white tank top, and her token, her locket with a single tear sealed inside, that went around her neck, tucked under the tank. She wasn't looking forward to going back to the training room, with the other kids who she knew were going to die within a few days and the creepy looking Gamemakers, some grotesquely altered, some looking nearly normal except for little things, like sharpened teeth or black eyes. But whichever one it was, it was frightening to think how any one of the people in that room could kill her... Well, maybe not any one, Tiffany seemed to be her friend and Bryce was super nice, maybe they would help her in the Games.

Speaking of Bryce, he chose that moment to poke his head in her door, "Hey Sapling, you coming? Or would you like to get breakfast before training?" Figures he'd be already ready to go... She shook her head.

"I'll be down later, I'm hungry!" She hopped off her bed and ran out to get some food off of the breakfast buffet, bacon and eggs and toasted bread with butter, it was better food than she'd ever had at home. There were the silent Avoxes, present as ever, just watching her as she served herself a big plate and sat to eat, knowing she should get as much food as she could now, before the Games started, it would keep her from starving so quickly when she was in the Arena... at least she hoped it would...

If she was even in the Arena long enough to be that hungry

* * *

**D7:Bryce Flammon**

Bryce stepped from the elevator and was immediately confronted from the jerk from 1.

He stood there with an overconfident smirk, blocking the way with his arm.

"So, you ever consider joining our alliance, District 7?" Like that was such a great thing. Quite frankly, Bryce just wanted to punch that stupid smirk right off of District 1's face.

Instead, he just coolly pushed past the arm District 1 held out to stop him. "No, I haven't, and no, I won't."

The idiot glared at him. "You know, you're pretty much screwed if you don't, right? I mean," He waved his arm at the others in the Career pack, standing a few yards away, "Look at who you're turning down."

Bryce didn't stop, didn't turn around, just headed to the ax station, where he was most comfortable, it reminded him of long summer afternoons in the woods outside his district, practicing for if he ever was called for the Games. He sometimes took his friends with him, Johnny, Lucy, Jared... Amy, his ex-girlfriend, he wondered if she was worried about him now. Even though they had broken up, he still cared a lot about her. He wanted her to be happy so he had let her go when she asked.

He wondered what she would think of him being invited to the Career pack and then turning it down... She'd probably be proud of him for not letting them get their hooks into him, turning him into a killing machine. Or she would be annoyed that he turned down an offer of help, another lifeline in the games.

"Bryce, don't let your potential allies just walk away!" That's what she said, but he didn't want to join them and become a hunter, someone to be feared and hated...

He wondered what she would think of him when he came home...

* * *

**D8: Trite Lankon**

Trite winced as Corg split the head of a practice dummy with a thrown ax for the third time. He still didn't understand why they had chosen him to be in their alliance. He wasn't all that impressive, except for his plans, and the other Careers scared him, especially Corg, with his sharp teeth and almost animal like growls. He couldn't even bring himself to think of killing. In truth he was hoping to get through the Games without killing anyone, let the other tributes or the weather or Mutts take care of them. He went back to practicing at the knife station, he was pretty good at it, but he still couldn't throw the knives very far. The same thing with spears and tridents, they were staple weapons in the Games, he couldn't remember any years but one where they didn't have at least spears hidden somewhere, or right in the Cornucopia.

He squinted at the target again, wishing his eyesight wasn't so bad or that he at least had glasses, but no, his family had been too poor to get him any, so that was one more weakness on top of everything else. The District 4 girl, she called herself Nightlock after the berries, giggled when she saw him squinting.

"Aw, what's wrong, Trite? It so far away you can't see it?" Sheesh she was weird, smiling eerily at him, like she just couldn't wait to stick that knife she had in her hand into his ribs.

"Uh, no, Nightlock, just getting ready to try to hit it again." He threw and this time managed to hit it... only a couple inches from missing, yes, but still, the blade stuck and would serve to slow someone down, at the very least.

She giggled again. "You know, it's funny to watch you throw, you never look like you know what you're doing!" With that...was that an insult? She kissed his cheek and skipped off, looking about 10... She scared him but not nearly as much as some of the others... Like Nickolas, who chose this moment to come over, still glaring at the guy from 7.

"Do you think that it's better to make a rival before the Games begin?" he demanded, not even looking at Trite.

Trite was hugely surprised, "Excuse me?"

He glowered, "And you're supposed to be the smart one, District 8? I asked if you thought that it was good to make an enemy before the Games start."

Trite looked at his feet, embarrassed. "Well... it does seem to make it more interesting in the Capitol, it might get you more sponsors when they realize it..."

"Ha! Score for me!" Nickolas walked off, going to talk to Satin of District 2... she glared and rolled her eyes... Trite realized he might have just been the decider of an argument...

He hoped Satin wouldn't blame him, that this won't be what gets him killed in the Games...

* * *

**D10: Katriel Seraven**

"Again!" barked her trainer, pulling her to her feet at one of the obstacle courses. She had just slipped off the wall she was supposed to be climbing over because a giant spider had just dropped on the other side... she saw now it wasn't a real spider, just a robot like thing, she also saw a pair of Gamemakers laughing at her. 'Yeah, real graceful, Katriel,' she nearly heard her big brother, Dylan laugh, 'Way to show them!' She nearly smiled to herself, she knew he would try to cheer her up, and it would work and they'd have a good laugh about it.

Instead she just glared back at the Trainer and pushed herself up. "I'm trying, but something dropping by me just startled me, jeeze." She walked back to the beginning and started again. Run, jump over the log, climb the faux tree, even though it was far bigger around than any tree she knew to exist, balance out to the end of the top branch, jump to another, lower branch, jump to the ground, run to the wall, climb over... here's the spider again, stab it with one of the swords she was practicing with, on and on. She fell two more times and had to start again, but eventually she had gotten it and was able to rest for a few minutes. She could see one of the younger Careers watching her with interest, the boy from 4. He looked like the kind of boy her sister would flirt with, but she just turned away, the Career pack disgusted her.

She then saw the guy 7 glaring at the guy from 1... interesting, 7 looked like he could be a Career, strong and handsome, yet he seemed pointedly keeping away grom them while they looked angrily at him. Interested, she went over to him.

He glanced up at her, "What?"

"What did you do to get on thier bad side?" she asked, motioning to the pack, which had begun to move on now.

He gave a laugh, deep and rich, "Told them I wasn't going to ally with them, apparently they don't like it."

She grinned, she could get along with him easily. She offered a hand to shake. "The name's Katriel."

"Bryce," he said, shaking her hand.

It was time to show the Careers that they weren't the only ones who could make alliances.

* * *

**D11: John Atticus**

John was enjoying showing Ari from 3 exactly how much he knew about technology at the electronics station. She was laughing, he telling her about the time he had licked a plug on a dare. Not a good idea as it turned out. She seemed nice, she had volunteered to save a girl who she used to know. It was a pity that soon one or both of them would be dead, he wanted to know her a little more... Speaking of, he caught the creepy Head Gamemaker's eyes fixed on the pair of them just then.

She had come down from the table and was standing only a few feet away, watching them silently. She had to be the strangest Capitol citizen he'd seen, she hadn't had her scars removed, now she was closer, he could see fine tattoos along a few of them, highlighting them, like she was proud to have them. He quickly convinced Ari to move on with him to the spear station, where they both practiced for a while. He was okay with them, not as good as Ari, but she had said she had some experience with a spear before.

She was a nice girl... If only they could both win the Games

* * *

**D12: Steller Frose**

Steller was in the pool. It was supposed to teach the others how to swim, but once the instructor had figured out that he was already good at it, he had put him into what he called an endless pool, it was short, but the water flowed at him so he had to keep swimming against it. It was a lot of fun and he seemed to be the only one at this station. Steller was reminded of swimming in the woods beond the fences of District 12, a little connetion to home. The home he might never see again. That worry seemed totally justified when he looked at the others.

District 1, well, they were sure to get sponsors if they played up the whole romance thing, both of them were Careers, they could fight already. District 2 had a pretty girl and a monstrous boy who looked like he could snap Steller in half if he tried, definitely two with a good chance to win. 3 had brains and 4 had brawn and 5 were both in alliances. 6 could heal, and that would be invaluable to winning, the ability to recover... either way, each District had it's own advantage, all except for 12, 12 was stuck with the worst industry for making winners.

But Steller knew he'd be the first, he had to be...

* * *

**Hey, La Morgana here, I had some time on my hands last night, couldn't sleep, had to write. This is what came out of it**

**By the way, if you find the spelling mistake I made on purpose, you get an extra little something for your tribute  
**

**NEW QUESTION!**  
**What song are these Lyrics from?**  
**I've tried so hard to tell myself that you're gone  
But though you're still with me  
I've been alone all along**

**COMING UP NEXT: Training Scores and Interviews**

**We are so close to the arena I can taste it! Later all!**

**;)**  
**LM**


	22. It's All a Show

**Training Scores and Interviews**

**Head Gamemaker: Morgana La Rosa**

Morgana looked over the finished list of scores she and her fellow Gamemakers were giving this year's batch of tributes... The Private Sessions had been rather dull, very little was shown to them they hadn't already known, but still, she had a duty to the Capitol, she needed to show them how much promise the Tributes showed.

District 1: Girl: Kathleen Mason-8 Boy: Nickolas Thorne-9

District 2: Girl: Satin Cambridge-8 Boy: Corg Bruster-11

District 3: Girl: Ari Michellle Faraday-8 Boy: Keenan Masonsen-5

District 4: Fishing Girl: Serena "Nightlock" Jet-7 Boy: Hendrik Gilden-9

District 5: DNA Splicing/Breeding Girl: Maeghan Summerdone-7 Boy: Julian Barium-7

District 6: Medicine Girl: Iris Larkspur- 6 Boy: Lance Tungsten-4

District 7: Lumber and paper products Girl: Katlyn Marion-7 Boy: Bryce Flammon- 10

District 8: Textiles Girl: Michelle "Missy" Allondite-4 Boy: Trite Lankon-6

District 9: Food Processing Girl: Alicia Wysteria-8 Boy: Hyden Richards-3

District 10: Livestock Girl: Katriel Seraven-7 Boy: Tobin Herder-2

District 11: Agriculture Girl: Aspen Ruddowe-4 Boy: John Atticus-6

District 12: Coal Mining Tiffany Summers-3 Cropen "Steller" Frose-7

Numbers, that's all it boiled down to in the end. 24 go in, 1 comes out alive. About a 4% chance that any one of them would survive. 17 winners, 391 dead, stupid children who train to die, they still had the same chance as any, 1 in 24. It was all so simple when it came down to it, just a simple math problem... Unless it came to a Quarter Quell, then there was a chance it could be anything; the chance could improve, the chance could decrease...

"Morgana, you still up?" Alexi had come in, worried, as always, for her...

"Yeah," she forced a yawn, "Just finishing up the scores we we're releasing tonight. How's Damien doing with the Mutts? Almost got the pods finished?"

He laughed, he loved laughing, especially, it seemed, when it came at his brothers' expense. ""Morgana, you know him as well as I do. He's never done with his experiments! I swear, if he could, he'd never sleep!"

Morgana smiled at that, she swore, before Rainen was stung by Tracker Jackers so badly he lost all sense of fear, Alexi went just plain mad, Damien had his left leg blown off and she'd been... interrogated, she had always thought they'd end up as famous as one could get in the Capitol for the entertainment they provided... She supposed she could say it had happened, but putting on games had never come to her thoughts. No, before almost all the sensible Capitol citizens were killed in the Rebellion, the Capitol was a much more fun place, a much more real place. They'd had wrestling tournaments, sword fighting, dramatic arts, not just adjusting one's body to whatever fashion happened to be popular at the second. But no, they were stuck in a world of candy colors and people who looked like characters from children s' books... or maybe horror stories.

"Anyway," Alexi started again, "I came to tell you we need to get the scores out now, so if you're done, we can go!" He smiled brightly as a child would, crooked and charming and helped her up and to the broadcasting room, where the new MC, Caesar something-or-other was waiting for them...

To officially start the betting chances

* * *

Two evenings after that, Morgana took her place on the balcony overlooking the City Circle, waiting for the Interviews to start.

The new host, Caesar Flickerman bounced onto the stage, dark blue hair matching his eye shadow and lipstick, in a suit that mimicked the night sky. The kid was funny, she had to give him that, bright and energetic, just one more piece of proof that the Games had gone from a punishment to a spectator sport.

The girl from District 1 was called up first; she played up the intelligent and witty side of herself. It made the entire audience confused then, when Caesar said to her, "So, Kat what do you eat on a typical day?"

"Human flesh."

They were all dead silent, surprised and slightly afraid of this short girl who had such an eerie answer. "Really?" asked Caesar nervously.

"No, not really."

The audience laughed, albeit it was a tight, nervous sound and Morgana got the feeling that no one was very sad when her buzzer rang and she went back to her chair, her simple black dress swishing.

Her District partner played up his natural sarcasm, at one point getting Caesar to ask the fateful question; "Were you always this confident, Nickolas?"

His answer was delivered with a superior smirk, short and to the point. "Yes, I was."

No mention of his budding romance with his petite partner, just proving that it was all for show.

Morgana liked the D2 girl, she was playing up how dangerous she could be, adding in just a flair of sexy, enhanced by her short sparkly green silk dress. Her whole attitude screamed winner, even going as far as to say "I don't look like I can do much but never judge a girl by the way she looks. She could kill you after all." She was the perfect Career and even Morgana clapped when she left. Her partner never said anything, glaring at the crowd, growling and licking his teeth like he just ate something... or maybe fangs were a better description, they looked razor sharp, even from the balcony.  
Teala, another Gamemaker, leaned across and whispered loud enough that all the other Gamemakers heard, "Heh, the guy looks like one of Damien's creations!" That earned more than one snicker from the others.

District 3 was completely forgettable, and Nightlock of 4 was kind of creepy. Her classic eerily cute smile was plastered on her face as she compared the Games to hide and seek. Hendrik, on the other hand, played up his sweetness, an odd strategy for a Career, but when Caesar asked him if he thought he had a chance to win, he answered, "Well, ask me that a few years ago and the answer is plainly no. But today..."

"Oh, nonsense! Everyone has a chance to win," Caesar said encouragingly.

That got Hendrik to smile a little mischievously, Well, say what you want, and now, I'm going to have to agree with you. I mean, with my... never mind. But something tells me that the odds are definitely in my favor." He went back to his seat when the buzzer sounded, signaling District 5's turn to come up.

The girl looked very dramatic in an emerald green wrap dress and heels that were at least 5 inches high, showing her eyes off to good effect, even when she winked, saying "Just keep an eye out," before her time was over.

The boy was one who irritated her, he was clearly infatuated with another tribute he must have known would have to die if he wanted to survive, but he still flirted with the crowd, sending half the women swooning with the words: "My true love is here...somewhere..." Like he really expected to live happily ever after. Morgana decided as he walked back to his seat that he'd be dying one way or another in her Arena.

His would be lover was next, openly sexy and bubbly, but showed a fiercer side when Caesar asked her if she thought she could win. She turned her big blue eyes to the other Tributes, as if addressing them all and declared "I am going to fight until I breathe my very last." Somehow, Morgan didn't think so, not if her boyfriend got his throat ripped out. Her partner, on the other hand, just made jokes the whole time, like he had all through his private training session... he made Morgana's eye twitch, they were all the same lame jokes. She was more than a little happy when his time was finally up.

The tiny girl from 7 was shy, but Caesar treated her very sweetly, finding out she wasn't giving up on surviving just yet. Morgana had to admire her spirit. She often wondered what it would be like to have all her tributes only 12. Oh well, maybe she could put that among the Quarter Quell ideas, since they had decided that there would only be one filled envelope in that entire box, the one used for the Quarter Quell that year, the rest would be empty, but they'd select a twist a year or so earlier.

Caesar was questioning her partner now, asking if he was nervous. The boy scoffed, "Of course not. Have you seen my competition?" He spread his arm out as if showing who they are. "I could do this with my arms tied behind my back in a ball gown." That got everyone laughing hard, this boy was good, he played the audience perfectly right, Morgana could tell that at least 30% of the women in the audience wanted to sponsor him.

The violin girl seemed sweet, saying, "I hope I can undo the wrongs of the Games, somehow by winning." Yet Trite, the one who had joined the Career pack was clearly scared, nearly crying through the whole thing.

A part that almost made Morgana feel sorry for him was when Caesar told him that anyone could win the Games.

"Yeah," he said "I really don't expect to win. But maybe I'll get lucky. Hopefully I'll..." Everyone could see the tears well up, him choke on the words, "I only wish that my brother could be there with me. Then I would stand a chance."

The entire audience didn't know what to make of him, but she could see the sympathy reflected in so many eyes...

The District 9 girl was a welcome relief, snarky, sarcastic, almost cruel. "I honestly couldn't care less about the other tributes. I have my own life to tend to." she said when asked what she thought of her fellow competitors. Morgana liked this girl; this girl could be a winner. The little boy she was partnered with just cried through the whole thing, going on about how unfair the Games were, how much he missed his mother and father... Pathetic.

Katriel, the one who had partnered with the District 7 boy, was calm and funny, but made no bones about her dislike of Careers, even going as far as to tell them to keep out of her way. Little Tobin was clearly told to play it mysterious, and tried to emulate his partner's ferocity... failing, but he still tried.

District 11 was mostly unmemorable, though that might have been the wine that Morgana had been drinking. The only thing that really stood out to her was the boy saying for some reason or another, "Heh...yeah Ceasar. I don't really like follow the path in front of me. I improvise, looking for a more trustworthy direction to turn to. Some things I do don't make sense at the time, but I'm always one step ahead." It struck her how much his intelligence made him out of place, especially with him coming from District 11; it nearly made her laugh out loud. Oh yes, these Games were going to be so much fun.

At long last, the District 12 girl went up, looking wispy and fragile. The kid looked like she was from the merchant class of her district, unless Morgana was very much mistaken, blonde haired and blue eyed. She was so innocent, so young so... dead in the Games, even with her little ally from 7.

She must have begun to doze off, because she felt Alexi shaking her shoulder, and found the anthem begin to play. She quickly stood, smoothing her dress and hoping no one saw her lapse in concentration. As she looked down at the Tributes, her final thoughts were of what she had lost during the war, how they could never replace that...

But she would make damn sure they suffered for it.

* * *

**AN: WHOOOO! Next chapter we're in the Arena! Who will survive the vicious Bloodbath? Who will get their heart ripped out? And which alliances will be over before they even begin?**  
**Speaking of alliances, here s where they stand:**

**Careers: 8 **

**Kathleen Mason**  
**Nickolas Thorne**  
**Satin Cambridge**  
**Corg Bruster**  
**Nightlock Jet**  
**Hendrik Gilden**  
**Maeghan Summerdone**  
**Trite Lankon**

**Anti Careers: 2 **  
**Bryce Flammon **  
**Katriel Seravan**

**Brains: 2 **  
**Ari Michelle Faraday**  
** John Atticus**

**Lovers: 2 **  
**Julian Barium **  
**Iris Larkspur**

**Little Kids: 2**  
** Katlyn Marion**  
** Tiffany Summers**

**All Alone: 8 **  
**Keenan Masonsen **  
**Lance Tungsten **  
**Michelle "Missy" Allondite**  
** Alicia Wysteria **  
**Hyden Richards**  
** Tobin Herder**  
**Aspen Ruddowe **  
**Cropen "Steller" Frose**

**Let me know if you want any of the Lone Tributes in your Tribute s alliance or if you want a romance between your character and someone else's. The next chapter should be up within one or two days, because once again, I have pleanty of time taking public transit to get this done (Heh, hence how I'm able to beta the talented Pianoette's SYOT, which you all should check out, write this AND keep up with my friends online all at the same time)**

**And now for the question:**

**Lyrics again:**

**There's a monster that lives 'neath your bed Oh for crying out loud,**  
**It's a futon on the floor, he must be flat as a board!**  
**There's a creature that lurks behind your door!**  
**Though I've checked there 15 times,**  
**When I leave then he arrives, every night...**

**I can imagine Snow singing this song to his children/grandchildren**

**Good luck, may the odds be ever in your tribute's favor!**

**LM**


	23. Going Down the Rabbit Hole

**Day 1**

The 24 Tributes were lifted into a forest arena, but something was off about everything. everything was giant sized, from the flowers to the trees to everything in between. The Cornucopia sat in the middle of a clearing and was filled to the brim with supplies and weapons. hey were each waring a long black jacket and Dark blue leggings, their shirts being the thing that set apart each District, a separate color and pattern for each.

60 seconds to wait on the plates

* * *

**Alicia Wysteria**

Alicia's eyes immediately fastened on a set of throwing knives almost directly in front of her, only about a dozen feet away. She knew she needed to grab those, those would help her in the Games.

**60 seconds to go**

* * *

**Aspen Ruddowe**

Aspen glanced to her right, the boy from 10 was there and to her left was the boy from 4. Well, she needed to run, keeping to her right, away from the Career.

**57 seconds to go**

* * *

**Satin Cambridge**

Satin stood on her plate, the other Tributes standing in a circle with her, she saw Corg next to the little girl from 12. She kept glancing toward him, hands playing with her token, some kind of wooden ball. Satin had to smirk, the kid was going to drop the ball, literally, if she fidgeted too much.

**55 seconds to go**

* * *

**Hendrik Gilden**

Hendrik was ready for this, he had to be. Now was the time to kill or be killed... But what if he didn't know if he could kill?

**52 seconds to go**

* * *

**Nightlock Jet**

Tick tock, tick tock, Nightlock could almost hear one of her District's nursery rhymes:

Tick tock, Tick tock, Tick tock See the face of the smiling clock!  
A mouse runs up, the clock struck one Tick tock, Tick tock, Tick tock!

**50 seconds to go**

* * *

**Kathleen Mason**

She was so ready to make a run for the Cornucopia, it wasn't even funny. Now the Games began. She was still so thrilled just to be here, so ready to fight, to win, to kill and get home and be famous.

**48 seconds to go**

* * *

**Keenan Masonsen**

Keenan looked across the circle, seeing the crazy girl from 4 standing almost opposite to him and let out a breath of relief, he knew she could throw far, but she wouldn't be able to hit an elephant at this distance... he stopped thinking then, those could be famous last words

**45 seconds to go**

* * *

**Maeghan Summerdone**

Maegan looked at Hendrik, standing right next to her, then at Nickolas, standing on her other side. Good, she was between two of her allies, one less thing she needed to worry about; getting to the Horn safely

**43 seconds to go**

* * *

**Tiffany Summers**

Tiffany couldn't believe they had put her next to the monstrous boy from 2! He could snap her neck with a single twist! She fidgeted with her ball, turning it over and over and over until it slipped from her grasp... falling onto the ground outside her plate. She knew no pain, only Darkness as the mine ripped her body apart.

She was the first death of the Games at only **40 seconds to go**

* * *

**Missy Allondite**

Missy clutched her violin tightly, her bow stuck in her belt. She had just seen the little girl only a tribute away die. She looked at the boy next to her, the one from two and saw him choking, holding his neck, a piece of metal sticking between his fingers, falling to his knees...

**37 seconds to go**

* * *

**Corg Bruster**

Corg knew more pain than most ever had prided himself on his endurance for years, but this... as a piece from that idiot District 12 girl's plate lodged in his neck, this was more pain than he's ever had.

He clutched his neck, feeling his life seep through his fingers.

**35 seconds to go**

* * *

**Hyden Richards**

Hyden looked at the girl who used to be on the plate next to him, hyperventilating. She was dead? Just like that? and the boy next to her too? How could that happen? The gong hadn't even sounded!

**33 seconds to go**

* * *

**Katlyn Marion**

Katlyn couldn't believe it, she just saw Tiffany die, blown to little bits because her token had fallen out of her hands. She stared at the spot only a few Tributes away where what remained of her former ally lay, not bothering to look at the District 2 boy, who had been hit by a piece of her plate as it blew.

**30 seconds to go**

* * *

**Nickolas Thorne**

Great, two tributes had just died before the Games even began, one his own ally. He guessed that was just how it went, Corg was a threat, threat removed. Easy pickings.

**27 seconds to go**

* * *

**Ari Michelle Faraday**

Ari was glad about where she was put; right next to John, a straight shot to the mouth of the great golden horn. Even though her mentor had said to just make a run for it, to stay out of the blood bath, she knew she needed to get some kind of weapon.

**25 seconds to go**

* * *

**Iris Larkspur**

It couldn't have been coincidence that she was put next to Julian. They made eye contact and she knew what they had to do as soon as the gong sounded. Run like crazy until they couldn't be followed by the sounds of death

**22 seconds to go**

* * *

**Trite Lankon**

Trite was counting down the seconds, he knew there was a split second after the gong rang that it took for the mines to be deactivated, he couldn't jump right off the plate, he had to wait that one fraction of a second, he had to.

**20 seconds to go**

* * *

**Steller Frose**

It was time to go, Steller had to run and grab a weapon, a backpack and get out. That is what his mentor said to him, that is what he had to do. Just survive, get back to District 12.

**17 seconds to go**

* * *

John saw a spear lying only a short distance away. That he knew was just for him. He had shown the Gamemakers his new skills in his private session and they had clearly been paying attention. Maybe that would help him last just a little longer in the Games.

**15 seconds to go**

* * *

**Katriel Seravan**

Katriel glanced at Bryce, who made eye contact with her. Their strategy was to grab a backpack and a weapon each, then regroup away from the violence. She raised her eyebrows at him and he nodded. The plan was still go.

**13 seconds to go**

* * *

**Julian Barium**

It was nearly time, he and Iris were just going to run, that was it, run as far and as fast as they could from the violence, then plan from there. Simple plan, right? If only they could get some supplies first...

**10 Seconds to go**

* * *

**Tobin Herder**

Oh no, oh no, oh no! There could only be a few seconds left, only seconds until Tobin's death... why did he have to be Reaped? Wasn't it enough that his big brother had been reaped only three years before? What had they done for this to happen to them?

**8 seconds to go**

* * *

**Bryce Flammon**

Get in, get out, that is what they'd do. He and Kat would need to be quick, but they just might be able to do it... But what about Katlyn?

**5 seconds to go**

* * *

**Lance Tugsten**

It was almost time. Lance was going to prove himself. Lance was ready, it was time

**3 Seconds to go**

**2**

**1**

**BONG!**

* * *

**Nightlock Jet**

Nightlock ran, full tilt towards a set of throwing knives ahead of her, scooping them up and searching for her first target. There! He was only feet away, he had tripped, it looked like, running for a big black backpack! Well, looks like Keenan wasn't getting away from her. She walked over sweetly as he tried to push himself to his feet, then kicked him hard in the side, smiling brightly and pinning him down by sitting on his chest.

"Hello, Keenan!" She said happily, pulling one of the knives, loving how wide his eyes got. "You want to play with my new toys with me?" She leaned down and whispered so only he could hear, "Just like you used to pick on Sebby, now it's my turn."

He looked at her, eyes wide with horror and she stabbed him in the chest, not in his heart, but a lung, then in his cheek, then his other lung, then his cheek again. He couldn't even scream! How interesting! She guessed that it was because he was drowning, but drowning on dry land? How cool was that?

She stood, wiping her knife off on the green of his shirt and scanned the area for another tribute.

Finding them all away from her she grabbed the backpack and ran into the trees, she didn't need allies, she had killed who she wanted.

* * *

**Hyden Richards**

Hyden had grabbed a backpack and a spear but now was staring up at the District 1 guy, who was smirking, pinning him down with a foot.

"well, looks like I caught one," he leered, "You'll do okay for my first kill of they day."

"N-no! Please wait! I'll do anything!" Hyden begged, but he felt the sword pierce his chest, then knew only darkness.

His last thought turned to his mom and dad, he was sorry he had to leave them

* * *

**Tobin Herder**

Tobin was running, but he knew he wouldn't be able to run near fast enough, the District 2 girl was gaining on him, he was nearly to the trees when he felt her knife go into his thigh, making him fall to the ground in more pain than he'd ever been in before, but the pain was spreading, the blade had poison in it! He writhed as he felt unbearable agony course through him, seeing the girl approach through a veil of bloodred.

He wanted to ask her to end it, he tried, but he could only scream. She took out another knife and knelt by him.

"Sweet dreams, kid," she whispered as she slit his throat and the pain ended, everything ended.

* * *

**Katlyn Marion**

Katlyn felt pain spread through her arm as the spear from the District 5 girl hit her. It wouldn't kill her, but she fell over from the force, glad the girl had missed, but needing to get away.

She yelled and tried scrambling to her feet, but saw the shadow of the girl raise a mace, and knew she was about to die when there was a THWAK! and an ax lodged in the girl's skull.

She felt herself being pulled to her feet with a, "C'mon, Sapling!" It was Bryce, Bryce had killed the District 5 girl to save her! She grabbed the backpack she was by and ran with him and another girl, from 10, she thought as they ran into the trees, away from the fighting and death.

* * *

**Morgana La Rosa**

Music played in the Games Center, an old love song.

Morgana's screen showed Iris Larkspur and Julian Barium running from the Career Pack, her Career pack. Well, they wouldn't be escaping. She saw the arrow shoot from the Pack and hit the boy's shoulder, making him fall

_Breaking up is hard to do!_  
_Don't take your love away from me!_

She saw the girl try to pull him to his feet to keep running, but the Careers had closed in and pulled her away

_Don't you leave my heart in misery!_  
_Cuz if you go, then I'll be blue!_

She screamed as the boy from 1 made little Trite go forward with a knife, to kill her lover

_Cuz breaking up is hard to do!_  
_Remember when you held me tight?_

He hesitated as the girl begged, but was clearly more threatened by the Careers and stabbed the girl's lover in the stomach

_And you kissed me all through the night!_  
_Think of all that we've been through, and breaking up is hard to do!_

The boy screamed and writhed as the Careers laughed, enjoying his pain, but heard a rustling and quieted

_I beg of you, don't say goodbye Can't we give our love just one more try?_

They had the District 4 boy stab the girl in the chest and left quickly, keeping an eye on the bushes incase anything jumped out at them.

The mics could just pick up the boy's last words; "My only... regret is... we couldn't have... been together..."

_C'mon baby, let's start anew Cuz breaking up is hard, so hard to do!_

The sensor indicated that the pair's hearts had stopped beating, Morgana gave the signal to start firing the cannons. 8 dead right from the get go, that left 16 to slug it out.

_Yeah!_

* * *

**Aspen Ruddowe**

Aspen counted out the cannons, she couldn't believe that in so short a time 8 were dead. She knew that one was the District 2 boy and another was District 12's girl. A third was the boy from 3 but other than that, she had no idea. She kept up her pace, walking through the forest... She was kind of intrigued why everything was so big, like from a fairy tale.

She checked out the purple back pack she had managed to snag from the Cornucopia. It had a sleeping bag, a box of matches, a packet of dried fruit. No water. She knew, as everyone knew, that no water could end up killing her just as surely as being stabbed or shot would.

* * *

**Alicia Wysteria**

Alicia watched the Careers at their camp, they had a fire going, she HATED fire. She nestled a little more securely into the branches of the tree she had hidden in. She needed too leave, she knew that, but as long as the Careers were awake, she was stuck.

The boy from District 8 she thought she could handle on her own, and there weren't as many Careers as there had been in previous years, the pair from 1, the girl from 2, the boy from 4 and the boy from 8 were all that was left, two of the others had died and one had run off into the trees. Alicia firmly decided that she wouldn't worry about that now, she wouldn't care if there were only 2 left, she wasn't going to attack them and get herself killed.

* * *

**Kathleen Mason**

Kathleen was the one assigned to first watch, her and Nickolas. Well, that wasn't too bad, after all, they were a couple, he loved her. She scanned the trees and saw something reflective. Odd, she grabbed the bow from right next to her and quietly snuck over to it. The sun was just going down, but yes, about 20 feet above her she could see the figure of another Tribute, maybe sleeping. She had just pulled back the string of her bow when Panem's anthem blasted out and the seal appeared in the sky, along with the faces of everyone killed today. Corg appeared first, then the boy from 3, both from 5, the girl from 6, the boys from 9 and 10 and the girl from 12. She heard Satin and Nickolas joking about how it was 8 down, 15 to go. She would show them, she pulled back on the string of her bow and released it with a satisfying TWANG! hitting her target. The girl screamed and plummeted to the ground, tangled in a sleeping bag. It was the girl from 9.

At the girl's scream, her allies had grabbed their weapons and ran over to her, Nickolas and Satin smiling widely. Nickolas wrapped an arm around her waist. "Good shot, baby," he said as he watch the girl lie on the ground, struggling to breathe from the force of the fall, "Looks like we might have had an attacker in the night."

"N-no!" The girl coughed, "I swear I wasn't!"

Satin laughed, "Oh right! You were just in a tree near our camp for giggles!" Satin went and grabbed a length of rope and dragged the girl to a tree by her hair, tying her up. "Well, maybe we can give the audience a good show with this one," And she grabbed a knife and stabbed the girl through the right shoulder, twisting the knife so she screamed. Kathleen and Nickolas joined in while Trite and Hendrik hung back, looking kind of sick.

* * *

**Katriel Seravan**

Katriel jumped when a cannon boomed through the silence of their camp. She, Bryce and little Katlyn had run for what felt like hours, until coming to a river... it was uncrossable, so they stayed put, setting up camp. Kat didn't see why they were keeping the little girl around, it would only hurt their chances if a fight came up, having to protect her as well as themselves.

Oh well, she took first watch and stayed up, watching the stars turn in the night sky, just wondering what the next day would hold...

* * *

**Oh wow, 9 tributes dead in one chapter, let's have a moment of silence for them and take a look at what killed them:**

**D2: Corg Bruster (18) Killed by Tiffany Summer's plate exploding  
D3: Keenan Masonsen (14) Killed by Nightlock Jet  
D5:Maeghan Summerdone (16)Killed by Bryce Flammon  
D5:Julian Barium (18) Killed by Trite Lankon  
D6: Iris Larkspur (16) Killed by Hendrik Gilden  
D9: Alicia Wysteria (15) Killed by Kathleen Mason  
D9: Hyden Richards (12) Killed by Nickolas Thorne  
D10: Tobin Herder (13) Killed by Satin Cambridge  
D12: Tiffany Summers (12) Killed by a mine**

**Okay, moment over. Sorry, but I don't regret any of them dying, I made a few to die and the others are ones that their creators abandoned.**

**Anway, stay tuned for the next chapter**

**Question: It's a brain teaser this time, I would appreciate it if people didn't just look it up**

**You're talking with the Xth President of the United States, where X refers to Dustin Pedroia's jersey number in 2006, minus the sum of the year Metallica released their best selling album, minus the number of people who escaped Alcatraz. The President tells you that the Yth President, where Y equals the answer to life the universe and everything plus 1, will be someone he personally knows. Who is this person, and how does he know him?**

**You get triple points for this one, yeah, it takes some time to figure this out, but think of it this way: You'll be smarter for it**

And while you wait for my next update, why don't you check out hmiller0903's** SYOT? It's of the first ever Hunger Games and still has slots open!  
**


	24. Falling Falling

**Night 1/ Day 2**

**Trite Lankon**

"Here," Satin said, thrusting a spear into Trite's hands, "You and District 4 get first watch."

Trite didn't argue, but was secretly plotting a way to get away from the Careers. Joining them may have been the stupidest mistake that he could have made. He and Hendrik settled at the edge of the camp as their three allies went to sleep.

Neither of them spoke much; Trite didn't mind it, he was still replaying in his head how that boy from 5 died, the feeling of stabbing him... It was something that he didn't think anyone would ever want, and yet there were so many kids who actually trained for the Games, just to kill. It was a horrible thought.

He was snapped out of it by Hendrik speaking to him: "So, what's your family like?"

Trite was surprised, yes, but he wanted to answer, if only to get sponsors' sympathy.

"Well, it's just me and my parents now... but," he swallowed, a lump rising in his throat at the thought of Algy, "I used to have a twin brother..."

It was Hendrik's turn to be hushed. "What happened?"

"Fire. Two years ago."

Hendrik looked troubled. "I really am sorry... I don't know how I'd react if any of my brothers was killed like that..."

"You have brothers?" Trite asked, surprised.

"Yeah," Hendrik nodded, "Three. And Lucy, my little sister."

"Parents?"

"Dead," Hendrik said roughly, half turning away.

Trite looked down."I'm sorry."

"Don't worry about it. I still have my siblings after all, right?

Trite thought how lucky he was to have that, he hardly had his parents, with them being gone all the time. "Yeah. Right."

Trite looked over at their snoring allies, and seemed to share a thought with Hendrik, "Yeah, they're probably planning on picking us off, you know..." Hendrik said, "Maybe we should leave now."

Trite shook his head, "They are our best bet for survival, but we should be careful." Trite looked at Hendrik, then at the sword he had on his belt. "You'll probably be okay, though... but I don't even have a weapon I'm good at using."

It was then that the parachute hit him on the top of the head. "Ow!" He rubbed his head and looked, the silver parachute had a number 8 embroidered onto it in black thread. "I guess it's for me..." He opened it to find a set of knives on a brace he could hide easily under his jacket... It was his first sponsor gift.

Hendrik looked over and grinned, "Well, looks like someone wants you to win."

* * *

**Nightlock Jet**

It was early morning when Nightlock woke up, the forest around her just barely brightening, to the sound of screaming. She sat up and looked around, then grabbed her pack and carefully followed to noise until she came to a patch of enormous flowers, with a whimpering girl covering her ears in the middle. The screaming, she realized, came from the flowers themselves. it sounded like little boys screaming, but Nightlock didn't care, she just pulled a knife and threw it into the girl's back. The girl let out a single, short scream before falling and beginning to sob as the screams quieted.

Night lock went over, pulled the knife from the crying girl's back and slit her throat.

BOOM, the cannon sounded that signaled her death and, all at once the screaming started again... but this time, it was Sebastian's voice. Nightlock let out a yell of fury, more angry than she'd been since she had killed her parents and flung a knife at the nearest flower, cutting the stalk. It crashed to the ground and she ran over, jumping on it and stabbing it wildly with another knife, and blood started coming out.

Blood? She pulled apart the center of the flower and found a Jabberjay inside, dead from being stabbed. Nightlock rose shakily, looking at the flowers. It wasn't really Sebby's voice, he wasn't in the Arena with her. She stood, leaving the knife in the now silent flower and ran and ran until she couldn't hear the terrible sound any more.

She fell to her hands and knees, panting, trying to clear her head. It wasn't Sebby, he wasn't here... A ring, a ring of roses!... She needed to win to get home to Sebby, time was running out, she needed to tell him... A pocket full of posies!... No, focus, Nightlock, the Gamemakers know about Sebastian, how? How? HOW?... Ashes, ashes we all fall down!... She was falling... she was falling...

"No," Nightlock said out loud. "No!" She shouted louder. She took deep breaths, no, they couldn't have hurt Sebastian, there was no way those screams were his. Yes, that was it. They faked the screams, got someone who only sounded like Sebby...

She saw the parachute drift down, right in front of her and caught it. Attached to it was a full water bottle, a big bag full of dried fruit, matches, and another set of throwing knives, all in a camouflaged backpack.

This got her to smile. Someone thought she was good enough to sponsor with all this? Wasn't that nice of them! She put her supplies all into the bigger backpack and shouldered it, it was a little heavy, but that just meant she had more to survive on.

It was time to see what else she could find.

* * *

**Steller Frose**

Stellar was alone, cleaning a rabbit the size of a dog when he heard it, crunching footsteps running up behind him. He barely had time to grab his knife before he spun around and was bodily tackled by the boy from 6.

He kicked upwards knocking Lance off of him, sending him flying into the rabbit hole that his prey had come out of...

Lance fell down it with a scream, a scream that kept going and going, getting father away every second. His cannon boomed shortly after the screaming was cut off with a crunch and a gurgle.

He couldn't believe it, he had just killed a boy...

* * *

You know, I still feel no regret for the dead Tributes... all of them have been ones who were abandoned so far, but let's take a moment of silence anyway...

D6: Lance Tungsten (14) Killed by Steller Frose  
D11: Aspen Ruddowe (15) Killed by Nightlock Jet

Okay, moment over! That's 11 down, 12 to go

I got a couple of gift requests for Nightlock before the Games started and then a gift given to Trite last chapter, so this is what came out of it. I have decided too, that at least 1 tribute will die per chapter. Yeah, Nightlock suffered a little bit of a mental break in this one, don't know why I associate her with little nursery rhymes, if it is a problem, can you please tell me Mimieux and I promise I'll stop... No there wasn't a particular reason I used her, I just drew her name out of a hat for the one I was going to use to kill Aspen. Same with Steller, just a name drawn out of a hat to kill Lance. You now, now that I think about it, I don't know what I would have done if I had drawn Katlyn's name to kill either one of them... hmm, I need to reconsider that... And none of this is probably making any sense to my readers ^_^' Oops, oh well, if my ramblings make sense to you, good if not, so very very sorry... Ah well, just one more throw away tribute to go and then the real Games will begin

{ahem} Okay, for the question:

What is the last sentence in The Hunger Games' 18th Chapter? (As in the first book of the series)


	25. Mad as a Hatter

**Okay, only one final throw-away Tribute, let's see how she dies, hmm? {evil laugh} ... {ahem} Yeah, this one is a tiny bit short.. sorry  
**

**Day 3**

**Morgana La Rosa**

Morgana was having one of her night terrors again. She felt the knife again cut down her face, someone's idea of revenge for the killing of their sister in one of the Capitol's interrogation rooms. Alexi losing his mind because he was strapped into a chair as Morgana was tortured in the most painful way their captors could think of. She saw the mines explode that killed so many in her unit and nearly killed Damien too. Saw his new leg, the claw foot, all there for show, just to remind the Districts what they all had suffered, why they were exacting such terrible compensation from supposedly innocent children. She felt the stings of the Tracker Jackers that had attacked them as they were escaping from the rebels, the ones who had gone after Rainen, the number of stings he had gotten proving too much for his brain. The Rebels had left them for dead, but the four of them had survived, they had always survived. But wasn't survive worse than living?

Screaming, she heard screaming, realized it was her own scream and jerked up in her chair, safely in the Games Center. She panted in terror, the memory of her nightmare still fresh and raw. 18 years, 18 years and she still remembered every horror of that blasted rebellion as clear as day. But now she was safe, now she didn't need to fear. She was in control now. Still, she took a drink of wine. There, much better, now she could focus.

On her screen she saw the District 8 girl,once again playing her violin. Perfect, just what she needed. A good death of one of the District's children.

But how to do it? Hm... She had an idea! She set music to start playing from a cluster of her very special mushrooms.

The girl looked up, stopping playing, looking confused. Come on, come on, little girl, she had to want to investigate. Ah, there, the girl stood, slipping her bow into her belt and went to investigate. She walked into the mushrooms and inhaled, and you could see how hungry she was. These mushrooms let off a scent of delicious food, sweet treats, the chemicals carefully created to target the smell the victim would find most pleasing and then taste like it too...

The girl went to one and pulled off a piece, after 2 days without food, Morgana knew she wouldn't have been able to resist the pull. Excellent, Morgana and the rest of Panem watched as the girl took a bite and waited for a few minutes. Nothing happened, so the girl kept eating... and after about a half hour, the hallucinations started.

Morgana smiled cruelly as the Tracker Jacker-like poison so carefully put into those particular mushrooms sent the girl into a hysterical fit, running through the trees, screaming her head off, using her precious violin to swing at imaginary enemies until she smashed it against the trunk of a tree, shattering it into a mess of wood and a few wires. Beautiful little Missy Alondite collapsed, twitching in terror but finally was still after a few minutes, her heart stopping. Morgana gave the signal to fire the cannon and retrieve the body.

She was done messing around, the real Games needed to begin.

* * *

**Katlyn Marion**

Katlyn sat in the little den she, Bryce and Katriel had found, helping Bryce sharpen his axes and listening to him as he instructed her on how to use a knife. It was going well, she could get a good swing in every once in a while, and Katriel had killed some kind of bird, it was almost as tall as her, but no one thought it could fly, since it was so round. That didn't stop it from being one of the tastiest things she had ever eaten, but she didn't know if even all three of them could finish it all before it went bad.

Katlyn began to wonder how her mother and sister were doing, if they were holding up against her abusive father while she was gone. She wondered about her two best friends in the entire world, Shelby and Lilly Marie. Were they happy she'd allied with Bryce and Katriel, did they think that it was a good choice? Or did they think she was at more of a risk to be killed?

CRACK! Crack, Crack! Something was heard outside! Someone was just outside...

* * *

**Yes, I know, I left a cliffhanger, WHO is outside our Anti-Career Pack's burrow? Do they mean harm? Well, here's how we determine it:**

**1:You vote in the poll on my profile, tell me who you want to die next**  
**2: You tell me you voted either by PM or review**  
**3: You sit back and wait**


	26. Curiouser and Curiouser

**Bryce Flammon**

Bryce picked up two of his axes carefully, creeping towards the mouth of the burrow as Katriel grabbed her bow and Katlyn picked up her dagger. Voices drifted in towards them... the Careers! but how...

"Footprints," said the voice of the District 1 boy... the one who he knew was out for his blood. "They're pretty fresh, maybe only an hour or two old..."

"Who's do you think they are, Nickolas?" asked the District 2 girl, "There seem to be a lot of them... they had to be made by more than one person..."

Bryce could almost hear Nickolas's sneer. "What do you think, District 8? How many do you think were here?" District 8? It had to be the boy they made eat lunch with them, Bryce just couldn't see the sweet girl join up with them.

Sure enough, it was the little 13 year old's voice who answered, "M-maybe 3? The foot prints seem to be in 3 different sizes, look, these ones are big, those two by Satin are really small and then the ones that seem to have been pacing are kind of in the middle. They seem to lead to... that hole over there, maybe they're still in there?"

There was the sound of a sword being unsheathed as Nickolas said gruffly, "It's worth checking out at least" and then footsteps approached the poorly covered opening of their hidey-hole. He heard Katlyn, little Sapling, whimper behind him and he knew that now they would have to either die or kill the marauding group, but the chances were against them, there were at least 5 Careers and only 3 of them. Their odds were bleak that they all would survive.

Even so, that didn't stop him from nearly beheading Nickolas as he came through the opening. Bryce cursed at himself for missing; he knew he had to keep these hunters from killing his allies,that was the only way he would be able to live with himself. Nickolas ducked Bryce's swing with a cry of surprise and then growled, stabbing at Bryce. Bryce felt a sharp pain go through his side but knew that now, the real part of the Games was beginning...

* * *

**Nickolas Thorne**

Nickolas felt the ax swing just over his head as he ducked, the breeze from it blew his hair around. He growled, seeing that the one he'd found was none other than the guy from 7, the one who had thought he was too good to join the Careers. Well, now it was time to show him what happened to anyone who crossed Nickolas Thorne. He lashed out with his blade, the guy tried to block it but still, he felt his blade sink into flesh, cutting into his opponent's side. District 7 gave a groan of pain and tried to shove Nickolas over, but Nickolas managed to stay on his feet.

"Now you die, District 7," Nickolas growled, but an arrow suddenly flew past his head, coming from the hole! But how?

Bryce groaned, "Katriel, get Sapling out of here!" Of course, he had allies! That would explain the extra sets of footprints! Nickolas saw the District 9 girl run out, pulling the little 12 year old from 7, Bryce's District partner. The pair of them try to race away.

"Hendrik! Take District 8 and get those two!" Nickolas shouted,swinging again at Bryce. Hendrik and Trite looked at each other and then took off running, but neither of them looked like they were going to chase down the two girls... no, they were running away! The little traitors! He would take care of them later, after he killed Bryce.

He saw Satin throw a knife, narrowly missing Bryce's head, and then another, catching him in the left arm. Bryce threw one of his axes at her, making her have to dive to the side to avoid it. Bryce meant business, that much was clear and Nickolas began to wonder if fighting him was really the best idea as Bryce began to attack viciously.

He only barely managed to block a few of the attacks before Bryce's ax sliced off his ring and pinky fingers on his left hand. He yelled in pain, stumbling back as he heard Kathleen scream his name...

* * *

**Kathleen Mason**

There was no way they were losing this! It was one against 3 still! They had to win this!

These thoughts raced through Kat's head as she rushed forward to help Nickolas, but she stumbled, feeling a knife enter her back. She shrieked as pain exploded across her back and spun, seeing the little District 7 girl trembling, having thrown the knife and now was left with just one more.

Kathleen stalked over, intending to end this annoying little girl, but the kid threw her second knife and it lodged in her throat. No... she couldn't be dying... But she fell to the ground heavily, bleeding out...

Faintly she heard the sound of a pair of heavy footsteps running towards her and a hurried "C'mon Sapling, we need to get out of here."

Everything faded around her, she wasn't going home... Her cannon fired...

* * *

And with that, so ends one of our couples... hehe, betcha thought it was going to be either Bryce or Nickolas who died huh? Nope! In all, with Fanfiction and my RL friends' votes, we got Kathleen!

And I drew for who killed her and it came up with Katlyn, so here's the answer to what happens if her name is drawn, I guess.


	27. A Brief Respite

**Evening 3**

**Steller Frose**

Just back away slowly. That was Steller's only thought as he carefully crept away from the Careers he'd just stumbled upon. The girl from 2 was bandaging the boy from 1's hand thickly... or what was left of it, he seemed to be missing a couple of fingers... Steller found himself wondering who he should thank for hindering a Career like that,it was going to make his job a whole lot easier if he wa discovered.

He trecked back to his camp, about a mile away, placed next to the only fresh water sources that Steller had found. There were a custer of springs near the Career camp, but the ones Steller had tried had either been dangerously salty or sugar water... and one that had burned a leaf he saw drift onto its surface. He also knew that there was one more good spring just beyond the Cornucopia, he had seen the Career girl from 1 fill the Career's water bottles from it. Steller wondered where she was, maybe hunting with the boys from 4 and 8? No, she wouldn't have gone too far from her District Partner, he was sure... so where was she?

His question was answered when they showed the faces of the two who had died that day. He knew there were two because that was the number of cannons that went off that day, one in the morning, one not more than 3 hours ago. Sure enough, there was the girl from 1, smiling confidently down at him, now dead. Of course, that meant that anyone else could be dead.

Turns out it was the girl from 8, the one with the violin. That made him think, what ever happened to the tokens that different Tributes brought with them. Were they returned to the Tribute's family? Or were they kept in the Arena, shown off to Capitol tourists who came to visit? Steller had no idea.

He looked down at the necklace his little step-sister had given him; a necklace that looked like a vine with a marble hanging from it. Trapped within was a single berry, a nightlock berry. He remembered his stylist saying that the review board had almost taken it away from him, but one of the Gamemakers had said that there were going to be Nightlock bushes already, so it wasn't like one little berry inside a piece of glass would do much harm. How could it? Well, maybe if he was desperate, he could use it to commit suicide, but he was smarter than that. He knew how to care for himself.

That might just be what will bring him home.

His thinking was interrupted by something drifting down from the sky towards him.. it was a silver parachte that landed right on his head, the number 12 embroidered in black on it. He looked in the small bag that was attached to it and found a pair of finely crafted daggers and a pair of glasses... oh well, maybe they'd manage to let him steal an hour more of sleep. However, when he put them on, he realized he could see just as well in the dark as he could in the light.

This would help him, he thought, this would give him an edge.

* * *

**Day 4**

**John Atticus**

It was nice, John thought, sharing a sleeping bag with Ari. She was warm and he knew he cold trust her, they just had so much in common. She was intelligent, she loved technology and art, just like him. He looked at her, illuminated in the early morning hours as they slept in an over-sized tree and found himself wishing that they both could win.

He pushed back a strand of her soft golden hair so it was out of her face and pondered how he could make sure that one of them survived. Well, he knew that the Gamemakers would either send in mutts to finish them or just starve them out if they tried to keep alive at the final two and neither of those options were appealing to him.

He looked at Ari again, his heart aching. The only way was that one of them would die. It wasn't a pleasant thought any way you looked at it, but it was true. But even if it meant his death, John was not letting her die.

She stirred and yawned, opening her eyes and smiling at him. "Good morning, John," she said sweetly, "You ready to get a move on?" The pair of them had been hunting for the past 3 days, avoiding other tributes, but had found some very large rabbits, which cooked the same as his rabbits back home.

They both dropped from the tree, packing the sleeping bag in one of the backpacks they had snatched from the blood bath. They had also gathered a variety of roots and those were split between them, as was the rabbit, so if they got separated, they would have food, but that wasn't going to happen any time soon, not if John had anything to say about it.

Ari was a natural at hunting, John would have loved to have her as a partner back home... Home. He stopped in his tracks as he realized what all this meant... he would never go home.

He decided he would sort out all his emotions if it came to that, he was going to focus on hunting with Ari, enjoy himself. He and Ari managed to bag another rabbit, nothing disturbed the peace, no other tributes, no cannon fire, even.

It was a day of peace through the Arena. No faces showed when they played the anthem, not one. There were still 11 of them left to fight.

* * *

**Morgana La Rosa**

Morgana watched the tributes drift to sleep. Nothing had happened that day, not a single thing! Bryce from District 7 was bandaged up, yes, as was Nickolas from District 1. Hendrik and Trite had run to find a shelter and the others, well, they were so boring!

She stormed around the Games Center, thinking of ways to spice this up... and getting a wonderful idea. It may not be original, it was certainly one she'd used before, but it would be very, very effective in driving them together.

Yes, she had an idea...

* * *

**{Insert eerie music here}**

**Uh oh, not too much happened in this chapter, what shall our possibly-not-entirely-sane Gamemaker do to, as she put it, "Spice things up"?**

**And my question: Which ear did Katniss temporarily lose hearing in in her first trip to the Arena?**


	28. AN: SOOOOO Sorry For the Delay!

Okay, sorry I haven't updated! I haven't had much time to write, finals week was last week and I was VERY busy! But I promise I will get a new chapter out tomorrow or the day after! Your patience will be rewarded! In the mean time, I updated the tribute list, bolding the people still alive and putting who has killed who and who has died and how!

Thanks for keeping reading!

LM


	29. AN: Dangit again!

Okay, sorry I haven't updated! I haven't had much time to write, what with family stuff and my job and then my computer crapping out on me! I swear, I am working on the new chapter RIGHT NOW and it will be upp soon!

Thanks for keeping reading and SOOOOOOO sorry for not updating!

LM


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